tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65420027225584229972024-02-06T23:38:05.655-05:00View From the Student SectionBecause View From the Alumni Section Just Isn't As CatchyVFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-84419321740044113902017-04-03T15:14:00.004-04:002017-04-03T15:14:44.622-04:002017 Title Game Breakdown and PickFor just the 8th time in the history of college basketball two #1 seeds will face off tonight for game's highest honor (of note three of the prior instances -- 1982, 1993, and 2005 resulted in UNC titles). Gonzaga and North Carolina have teams worthy of cutting the nets in Phoenix. Gonzaga can beat North Carolina if their shooters are hot, they defend well and their big men can match up with the Heels' size inside.<br />
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However, I think most people offering predictions are overlooking two rather significant factors in UNC's favor. The first is that UNC is by far the best team Gonzaga has played this season. The Zags strung together impressive, albeit not overwhelmingly decisive, wins over Florida, Iowa State, and Arizona (without Allonzo Trier) in the first few months of the season then rampaged through a weak West Coast Conference (which has four teams ranked below Boston College in Kenpom). In the tournament the Zags have taken care of business, but its hard to deny that they've enjoyed a somewhat beneficial draw, facing an 11 and 7 seed in the Elite Eight and Final Four, respectively. And look, you don't win 37 games and beat teams like West Virginia without being a really good team. But in UNC Gonzaga is for the first time all season facing down a team that can match them in terms of depth, talent, and balance. On the other hand the Tar Heels have played at <i>least</i> <b>seven</b> games against teams on par with Gonzaga.<br /><br />The second factor is that in winning their 37 games Gonzaga hasn't faced much adversity. According to <a href="https://twitter.com/kenpomeroy/status/848969767457181696">Ken Pomeroy</a> the Zags have trailed by double digits for all of 17 seconds this season. In some ways of course that is a testament to the Zags greatness, but at the same time UNC is a team capable of throwing a haymaker or two during a game. Its plausible that if UNC at any point goes on a run to take a significant lead, the inexperience of Gonzaga in dealing with such a situation could cause them to panic.<br />
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Which brings me to the pick. There are plenty of reasons to doubt North Carolina. Joel Berry has not been himself this tournament due to multiple ankle sprains. Isaiah Hicks has failed to be the factor he was in the win versus Duke at the Smith Center. Yet I think in somethe pressure to make it back to this night that weighed heavy on this team may have been lifted after Saturday night. I think UNC comes out of the gate with an early haymaker, gets a double digit lead in the first half, Gonzaga hits some threes to make a run in the second but then ultimately runs out of gas. UNC gets NCAA title number 6.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold;">THE PICK</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">UNC 91, Gonzaga 75</span><br />
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<br />VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-2133657463824979892011-07-28T21:30:00.000-04:002011-07-28T21:30:48.550-04:00Impact of Butch Davis being fired on this football season<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media2.newsobserver.com/smedia/2011/07/27/19/40/Er0mq.Em.156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://media2.newsobserver.com/smedia/2011/07/27/19/40/Er0mq.Em.156.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No caption necessary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Last week I began working on a UNC 2011-2012 season football preview post. I wrote from the angle that because of all the hoopla surrounding the NCAA's investigation, people were somehow ignoring a team that could build on the previous season's success and compete for an ACC title. Included in what I had written last week was this quote:<br />
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<i>Also, despite the cries by some media members for Butch Davis's head, I think his job is safe at least for this season. Despite all of the allegations Davis still has plausible deniability, regardless of whether John Blake was doing some pretty devious stuff. Also if UNC was going to fire Davis they would have done it already. It would make no sense to fire Davis with only a little over a month before the season kicks off. </i><br />
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Fast forward to Wednesday evening at about 5:00 PM. Over the last 24 hours Butch Davis was suddenly fired without any real warning (unless you believe Art Chansky has a huge pull on Holden Thorpe) and UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour basically fell on his sword, announcing that he would step down as AD as soon as his replacement was found. My immediate reaction to all of this?<br />
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Lest you think this overstatement, remember the state of UNC football before Butch Davis was hired. UNC was bringing in mediocre recruiting classes and putting together 3-11 seasons (trust me I was there for it my first two years at Carolina). Given how this went down and the NCAA allegations cloud still ominously looming over the football program, UNC fans shouldn't expect any blockbuster hire. UNC's recruiting, which Davis helped elevate to a level of competing for (and actually gaining commitments from) 4 and 5 star prospects, is about to take a serious nosedive. UNC also is liable to lose some of their better young players to transfer. Ultimately, even if Carolina can come away with a surprising hire, the Tar Heels are almost guaranteed a few lousy years in the not too distant future, and if things go wrong they could end up in the same place NC State basketball has been over the past 5 years.<br />
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Consequently, the current season could be a last hurrah for what looked only a little more than a year ago to be such a promising future for the UNC football program. The Blue Zone has been completed, but if things go poorly this season the sight of the sparsely filled seats of the massive expansion in the east end zone could simply add salt to the already festering wounds of the UNC fanbase. At least for one season it is IMPERATIVE that the seats be full, and for that to happen Carolina is going to need to go out with a bang. <br />
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While no one would really fault this year's team if this firing coupled with the NCAA investigation ultimately proved to distracting to allow success on the field, the fact remains that even minus a head coach UNC has a pretty talented roster. Defensive Coordinator Everett Withers has been promoted to head coach and it is conceivable that Davis' firing may not have too much of an impact on in-game play calling given that Withers and Offensive Coordinator John Shoop remain in place. There is always the possibility that the NCAA comes down hard on UNC in October, delivering a postseason ban and ending any hope for "one last run," but my guess is they will avoid that particular punishment now that everyone associated with the scandal has resigned, graduated, been deemed ineligible, or been fired. Now with regards to the actual football team...<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tommeltonscouting.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/bryn-renner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://tommeltonscouting.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/bryn-renner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renner's play will dictate how good UNC is on offense</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On the offensive end of the ball, the Tar Heels will have a (relatively) new face at quarterback with Bryn Renner set to take over after a couple years of waiting in the wings. Renner has received almost unanimously positive reviews while at Carolina, and going into last season some expected him to usurp the starting position from TJ Yates. That said, Renner remains an unproven commodity and the Heels will go as far as he takes them this year. Renner with be facing the biggest uphill battle mentally given that in addition to the pressures of any new started, Renner also has to deal with the distractions of the looming NCAA investigation and the firing of his head coach a week before camp. Luckily for Renner he is surrounded by a strong supporting cast on offense. Dwight Jones really broke out during the second half of last season and could be one of the best receivers in the nation in 2011. Erik Highsmith and Jhay Boyd have both shown flashes of brilliance in their first two seasons but could really help the team out by becoming consistent threats. The backfield is not as deep as last season, but has talented experience with Devon Ramsay and Ryan Houston. Not surprisingly Renner's play will be the real tipping point here. If he struggles Carolina will be mediocre at best on offense. If he plays to the flashes of brilliance he has shown in the past two springs UNC could have a dangerous offense.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/83230983.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF8789215ABF3343C02EA548D003B5777FFB3759A957B1C404F61BF4661965D7D19EF5BFE30A760B0D811297" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/83230983.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF8789215ABF3343C02EA548D003B5777FFB3759A957B1C404F61BF4661965D7D19EF5BFE30A760B0D811297" width="216" /></a></div>On the defensive side of the ball, Carolina will field what could be the nation's best defensive line with leas season's breakout star Quinton Coples at one end position and another potential breakout star in Donte Paige-Moss at the other. At the tackle positions Tydreke Powell, Jordan Nix, and newcomer Sylvester Williams make up a pretty fearsome trio. The next level of the defense should also be strong with Zach Brown and Kevin Reddick returning at linebacker. While standouts Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter graduated, both Brown and Reddick looked ready to step in and be stars last season and will likely be joined by sophomore Darius Lipford. The secondary is much more of an area of concern after the departures of Duanta Williams, Kendric Burney, and Da'Norris Searcy. Charles Brown returns after missing last season due to suspension as a result of the NCAA investigation and he will be joined at the cornerback spot by sophomore Jabari Price who showed flashes last season in a few starts. At safety Jonathan Smith will be joined by either Tre Boston (moved from CB) or Brian Gupton. Carolina's success on defense will be contingent on solid play from some young players in the secondary combined with the ability of the defensive line to create constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks.<br />
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Ultimately the future of UNC football that seemed to shine so brightly only slightly more than a year ago has been replaced by anger, frustration, and perhaps what is worst of all, the threat of slipping back to irrelevance. Writing those last two paragraphs gave me hope that perhaps a memorable season can be salvaged from all this wreckage. A lot of that is contingent on how much the players are able to distance their thought from these massive distractions and focus on football. One way we as fans can help is to show up to games and give the team the unyielding support they will need. All the online threats of wanting season tickets back and boycotting the program/administration is understandable but ultimately detrimental to the players and the program we love. Kenan Stadium should be packed and as loud as ever as we cheer on what still could be a very exciting team. Hell it may be the last chance for us to do so for a long time.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-12479265178912620192011-06-22T19:22:00.000-04:002011-06-22T19:22:38.482-04:00The Top 10 Television Drama Seasons (That I've watched)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTby8iBX-SNn6k-P2ZUJXvvmpJ0aU-7T4DJt2g7ke4Em2GL1Eeq_gRzZnoUOLPcfteKap_1XtTeRSm4FSxYMqcM43_LRCyW00n2LPGZpKX8Yp9iuShWX98xmtMNqEYazB00IUd0-YrD0ks/s1600/TV.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTby8iBX-SNn6k-P2ZUJXvvmpJ0aU-7T4DJt2g7ke4Em2GL1Eeq_gRzZnoUOLPcfteKap_1XtTeRSm4FSxYMqcM43_LRCyW00n2LPGZpKX8Yp9iuShWX98xmtMNqEYazB00IUd0-YrD0ks/s320/TV.png" width="320" /></a></div>Following Dallas' defeat of the Miami heat we entered the doldrums of the year with regards to sports. With the exception of the NBA draft, for the next few months Sportscenter will be dominated by MLB highlights from relatively meaningless games, NFL/NBA lockout discussion, and in all likelihood a unrelenting dissection of why LeBron's fingers are still conspicuously lacking of any jewelery. As I find any one of these topics as boring as the next, I figure it is time for my third non-sports related post (which is quickly becoming an annual summer tradition). In a nice twist of irony my breakdown of the LOST finale last summer remains the most viewed entry in this website's history. While LOST may be over, another show has captivated an hour of my time on a weekly basis. Indeed, LeBron's title hopes were not the only source of drama over the past few Sundays. HBO's new series Game of Thrones <span style="color: black;">just wrapped up an excellent first season this past Sunday night.</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span>Consequently, I decided ranking the best single TV seasons would make for a fun break from sports posting.<br />
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Before I begin with the rankings, let me announce a few stipulations.<br />
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Firstly, I am only ranking television seasons<u><b><i> that I have watched</i></b></u>, so while I don't mind people sharing their feedback on their favorite seasons, don't rip me for not including a season of Mad Men, The Sopranos or Breaking Bad. I'm sure those are excellent shows and ones that I would love to watch had I infinite time, but at the moment I do not and thus they are not included in the list.<br />
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Secondly, I have limited this list to only include television drama, because I feel including drama and comedy shows in the same category is comparing apples and oranges. <br />
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Lastly, because the write ups for the seasons on the list are <span style="color: red;"><u><b>SPOILER</b></u><span style="color: black;"> heavy, I have split them onto separate pages which you can access by clicking on the title of each season on the list below. I know this may be slightly obnoxious, but it was the only way to ensure avoiding accidentally spoiling great seasons of televisions for readers of this post. Having said that, if you want to avoid having a show spoiled for you, don't click on that particular link in the countdown. With that said let's begin!</span></span> <br />
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<u><i>Honorable Mention</i></u>: <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/heroes-season-one.html"><b>Heroes, Season 1</b></a><br />
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10) <b><a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/10-house-season-1.html">House Season 1 </a></b><br />
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9) <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/2011/06/9-24-season-one.html"><b>24 Season 1</b></a><br />
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8) <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/8-lost-season-one.html"><b>LOST Season 4</b></a><br />
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7)<b> <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/7-dexter-season-one.html">Dexter Season 1</a> - </b><i>Guest Written by Daniel Tobben</i><br />
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6) <b><a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/6-game-of-thrones-season-one.html">Game of Thrones Season 1</a> </b><i></i><br />
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5)<b> <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/5-wire-season-one.html">The Wire Season 1 </a></b><br />
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4)<b> <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/4-24-season-five.html">24 Season 5</a></b><br />
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3)<b><a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/3-band-of-brothers-mini-series.html"> Band of Brothers (Mini Series)</a> - </b><i>Guest Written by Michael Tobben</i><br />
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2)<b> <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/2-wire-season-four.html">The Wire Season 4</a></b><br />
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1)<b> <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/p/1-lost-season-one.html">LOST Season 1</a></b>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-36720920839645386742011-04-22T14:08:00.001-04:002011-04-22T14:56:08.031-04:00UNC 2011-2012 - Fun with Rosters<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/files/2010/11/Barnes-dunk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/files/2010/11/Barnes-dunk1.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Black Falcon is Back, and he will have plenty of help</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As you undoubtedly know by this point, Harrison Barnes announced on Monday that he would be returning for his sophomore year. It proves that Barnes is a unique type of superstar and has goals for his college basketball career beyond making it to the NBA. While Barnes is being lauded for passing up sure money people also need not forget about John Henson and Tyler Zeller who also passed up guaranteed first round money to come back and make a run at the national championship next season. I'm holding off on proclaiming UNC the undisputed preseason #1 until it is assured that at least Knight and Jones (and hopefully Liggins as well) are done at Kentucky, but at the moment it does look like UNC will be expected to cut down the nets in New Orleans. <br />
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Since the expectations for UNC and Barnes' decision have been discussed ad nauseum, I figured I'd go a different way with this post and play around with some possible lineups UNC could throw out on the floor. In addition to having a star-studded starting lineup, UNC has one of the deepest rosters in the nation. Justin Knox was the only player who saw significant minutes this past season who won't be on the team in 2011-2012 and the Heels get back a (hopefully) healthy Reggie Bullock as well as a 5 man recruiting class ranked #4 in the nation by ESPN.com. Consequently the number of lineup possibilities are endless. <br />
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<b>Starting Five</b> - no real explanation required here. <br />
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PG: Kendall Marshall<br />
SG: Dexter Strickland<br />
SF: Harrison Barnes<br />
PF: John Henson<br />
C: Tyler Zeller<br />
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UNC should be starting the exact same lineup they started this past season. The only concern with this group remains 3 point shooting, but I would expect Marshall and Barnes to both improve in that category. Strickland keeps the starting shooting guard spot due to his defense. He showed at times how dangerous he can be in transition and when attacking the rim. If he improves his shooting and becomes more assertive driving to the basket, he could perhaps be the most improved player on the team next year. The frontcourt is absolutely loaded. They could barely be stopped last season and might become completely unstoppable next year.<br />
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<b>Make it Rain</b> - The ultimate 3 point shooting lineup<br />
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PG: Kendall Marshall<br />
SG: Leslie McDonald/PJ Hairston<br />
SF: Reggie Bullock/PJ Hairston<br />
PF: Harrison Barnes<br />
C: James McAdoo<br />
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I'm not sure we see this lineup much, but with these players out on the floor, UNC has good shooters at every position. McAdoo showed off his three point range in both the McDonald's all All American game and in the Jordan Classic. McDonald, Bullock, and Hairston are all pretty interchangeable at this point with regards to shooting. As mentioned above, Marshall will probably be an improved shooter as well, but his main role in this hypothetical lineup is finding the open shooter (which shouldn't be too hard).<br />
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<b>Murderous Press</b>- stealing this one from Bill Simmons' book, in which he took the idea from Rick Pitino, who said that if he went back into the NBA he would take 5 of his bench players and have them press relentlessly 5 minutes each half. It doesn't seem likely UNC will do this next year, but I like the idea and think it would be interesting if UNC adopted the concept and went to this lineup a couple times a game.<br />
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PG: Stillman White<br />
SG: Dexter Strickland<br />
SF: Justin Watts<br />
PF: Jackson Simmons<br />
C: Desmond Hubert<br />
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White, Hubert, and Simmons are all middle to lower level recruits coming in next season who probably won't see significant playing time. I put Strickland on the press due to his great defense/to have a second ball handler. Justin Watts may see his minutes diminish this year but he would be PERFECT for this press. Hubert could be replaced with Henson if he isn't able to execute this, but I wanted it to be mainly composed of bench players<br />
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<b>The Monstars </b>- Go big or go home<br />
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PG: Kendall Marshall<br />
SG: Harrison Barnes<br />
SF: James McAdoo<br />
PF: John Henson<br />
C: Tyler Zeller<br />
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This lineup has been talked about quite a bit already and ESPN's Eamonn Brennan's called it the "'screw it, I'm doing it' video game lineup" in one of his chats earlier this week. While I doubt we actually see this lineup much on the floor, Barnes could potentially play the 2 guard and McAdoo is thought by some to be a hybrid forward along the lines of Marvin Williams. They may have issues keeping up with smaller guards on defense, but on the offensive end a lineup with 4 players 6'8" or over would be a nightmare for opposing teams.<br />
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<b>Lockdown Defense</b><br />
PG: Dexter Strickland<br />
SG: Reggie Bullock/PJ Hairston <br />
SF: Harrison Barnes<br />
PF: John Henson<br />
C: Tyler Zeller<br />
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Dexter Strickland takes over at point for Kendall Marshall whose one weakness is on the defensive end. Once again if Bullock is healthy he could give opposing shooting guards problems with his 6'7" frame. Alternatively Hairston is 6'6" and also seems like a solid defender from what I've seen.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>Crunch Time</b> -the lineup in the last minutes of a close game when UNC needs to score/make free throws<br />
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PG: Kendall Marshall<br />
SG: Leslie McDonald<br />
SF: Harrison Barnes<br />
PF: James McAdoo<br />
C: Tyler Zeller<br />
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A good case for Strickland, Hairston, or Bullock could be made at the 2 guard position, but I ultimately think that I may trust a junior Leslie McDonald the most to knock down a big shot. Marshall, Barnes, and Zeller are no-brainersMcAdoo the edge at power forward due to having a better offensive game and being a better free throw shooter than Henson.<br />
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and just for fun<b> The Best</b> <b>Biscuits Lineup Ever!</b><br />
PG: Stillman White<br />
SG: Patrick Crouch<br />
SF: Justin Watts<br />
PF: Jackson Simmons<br />
C: Desmond Hubert<br />
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Outside of crouch I actually think all of these players are/will be solid college contributors, but with the talent UNC has on their roster they may not see the floor too much until mop up time. Still this is definitely a roster that can get you from 94 points to 100 points in the last couple minutes.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-16126445362475543502011-04-11T18:37:00.002-04:002011-04-11T18:41:00.854-04:00UNC Basketball 2010-2011 Season Wrapup: Part II<i>Note this is part 2 of a 2 part season wrapup. For part one, click <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/2011/04/unc-basketball-2010-2011-season-wrapup.html">here</a>.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b>Lowlight #5: Oh Offense, offense, wherefore art thou offense?</b><br />
UNC rebounded from their disappointing second half in Durham with wins against Clemson and Wake Forest, neither of which were particularly pleasing from an aesthetic point of view. Their next game was against Boston College who they had managed to score 106 points against in their previous meeting. This time the Heels failed to score half that, tallying 48 points, the lowest of the Roy Williams era. Luckily BC scored two points less and Carolina got the win, but it was an ugly game that made people wonder whether Kendall Marshall was hitting a wall and whether the team had peaked too early. It also was just a painful game to watch.<i> </i><br />
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<b>Highlight #6: Black Falcon Blood > Tigerblood</b><br />
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The Tar Heels answered their doubters with back to back double digit victories at NC State and at home against Maryland (and in the meantime Charlie Sheen's antics captivated America, thus the). Their next matchup was against Florida State in Talahassee, the site of Duke's first loss of the season. The game was neck and neck the whole way through and with 18 seconds remaining Derwin Kitchen hit a free throw to give the Seminoles a one point advantage. To the surprise of some, Roy Williams called a timeout with 10 seconds left. Barnes was given the ball about 8 feet from the top of the key and went iso with his man, looking like he would drive to the hoop. Instead he pulled up from three and hit an absolutely cold blooded three pointer to give UNC the win. Perhaps the most surprising thing was how muted Dickie V's response was to the shot. Perhaps he genuinely had come to expect that from Barnes, but I would bet he would have yelled and waxed poetic for a good five minutes had Singler or Smith made the shot. <br />
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</b><br />
<b>Highlight #7: ACC Regular Season Champions in the Sweetest Way Possible</b><b></b><br />
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With both Duke and UNC coming into the final game of the regular season at 13-2, the rematch in Chapel Hill had the added stakes of being for the outright regular season ACC title. Now time for a confession. I wasn't able to watch this game in its entirety. I was in Charleston with a group of friends from medical school on spring break, and everyone decided to get dinner at 8:30. Consequently I was stuck getting up from the table every five minutes to go watch the game on the TV at the bar. To be fair I caught all of the final 5 minutes and probably slightly over 50% of the rest of the game, but I hate missing any of a Duke-UNC game. As for the game itself, UNC made an early statement by starting three walkon seniors who proceded to help UNC to a 3-0 lead before being pulled. Kendall Marshall was the star of the game with 15 points, 11 assists and only 2 turnovers. Harrison Barnes hassled Singler into only 8 points on 3-14 shooting. Dexter Strickland also put an exclamation point on the victory with a thunderous dunk on Miles Plumlee (13:55 in the above video). <br />
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</b><br />
<b>Highlight #8: 40 for 40</b><br />
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After capturing the regular season title, UNC had their letdown in the ACC tournament with three consecutive slow starts. Carolina was down 19 to Miami in the second half of their ACC tournament game before a furious comeback was capped by a Tyler Zeller buzzer beater with time expiring. The Heels then proceeded to fall behind early again in their third meeting with Clemson in the ACC semifinals. With the Heels down 5 and 1:23 remaining on the clock, Barnes hit a three to bring UNC within two (Zeller scored the tying bucket), then scored 15 points in overtime to finish with 40 points, tying Tyler Hansbrough's single game freshman scoring record.<br />
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<b>Lowlight #6</b><b>: A Dish Served Cold</b><br />
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Carolina's ACC tournament habit of surrendering big leads early against came back to bite them in the ACC tournament finals against Duke. It was a game I had a bad feeling about as soon as the matchup was set and UNC was thoroughly outplayed by a Duke team that looked like a bunch of seasoned veterans. Nolan Smith bothered Kendall Marshall all game and Duke shot 9-20 from beyond the arc. While the refs were not as awful as some Carolina fans claimed, there was an atrocious charge called on a Dexter Strickland posterization of Kyle Singler that did kill some early momentum from Carolina. In many ways it may have been best had UNC lost to Clemson in the semifinals.<br />
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<b> </b><br />
<b>Highlight #9: John Henson Also Likes to Live Dangerously</b><br />
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After an opening round game against Long Island that was closer than it should have been for much of the first half, Carolina faced off against the PAC-10 tournament champ Washington Huskies. Washington jumped to an early lead, then the game was back and forth. John Henson came up with a huge play with five seconds remaining and Carolina up one when he deflected Washington's inbound pass to Dexter Strickland, who appeared to seal the game with two free throws. However John Henson attempted to catch Venoy Overton's desperation shot, only to drop it out of bounds with a second left. Washington inbounded the ball to Isiah Thomas whose shot was off mark. Henson for some reason attempted to goaltend the shot (he didn't touch the ball) which would have been the dumbest decision in college basketball history had Thomas's foot not been on the line and had the ending of the Pitt-Butler game not occurred only a night earlier.<br />
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<b>Highlight #10: Derrick Williams Dominates Duke, UNC Dominates Marquette </b><b> </b><br />
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A night before UNC's sweet sixteen game the Blue Devils faced off against the Arizona Wildcats. Duke seemed poised for a blowout in the first half and the only reason I kept watching was Derrick Williams' buzzer beating three to cut Arizona's halftime deficit to six. In the second half Arizona looked like the Monstars in the first half of the space jam game, thoroughly dominating Duke including a couple sick jams to upset the Blue Devils. The next night the Tar Heels eviscerated the Marquette Golden Eagles, who were never able to find any semblance of offense against UNC's length.<br />
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<b>Lowlight #7: Kentucky en Fuego</b><br />
With a final four field that already included VCU, Butler, and Connecticut, I felt like Carolina suddenly had a chance to cut down the nets in Houston if they could get past the Kentucky Wildcats in the elite eight. Kentucky had upset overwhelming favorite Ohio State in the sweet sixteen, but I figured Carolina had a good chance since they had already beaten Kentucky once and since it would be hard for the Wildcats to reproduce their 9-21 shooting beyond the arc from the previous matchup. I was wrong. Kentucky shot a ridiculous 12-22 from 3 and John Henson spent most of the game on the bench in foul trouble. UNC did roar back in the final minutes due to an 8-0 run by Harrison Barnes, but down one with 1:02 left, DeAndre Liggins blocked a Kendall Marshall layup and then converted on the other end with a three to win the game and end the UNC season.<br />
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<b>Final Thoughts</b><b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r424/cedricsmods/STRETCHING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r424/cedricsmods/STRETCHING.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Despite the fact the season ended with a lowlight, it was one of the most enjoyable seasons of Carolina basketball I've witnessed. We saw an inconsistent team full of young talent mature into a Final Four contender, in part due to the departure of Larry Drew II. In a year where Duke was penciled in as the best team in the ACC all year, UNC managed to capture the ACC regular season title by beating the Blue Devils in the Dean Dome. Despite the ups and downs of the season, Carolina finished ranked exactly what they were ranked in the preseason, #8. If the rumors are true and Barnes comes back, next year could be something special. However, there will also be enormous expectations that at times may take some of the fun out of watching UNC next season (trust me I was there for 2009). On the flip side the NIT debacle last season makes one really appreciate how much fun it is to see a UNC team like this year's team. I will never forget 2010-2011.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-41228775593074851822011-04-08T19:04:00.004-04:002011-04-11T18:55:29.649-04:00UNC Basketball 2010-2011 Season Wrapup: Part I<i>Note: This is part 1 of a 2 part season recap.</i> <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kendall Marshall taking over at point guard was a turning point in the season</td></tr>
</tbody></table>With the college basketball season coming to an end this week, I figured now was as good as a time as any to look back once more on the past season for UNC before focus completely shifts to next season (which it will as soon as Barnes makes his announcement).<br />
<br />
To set the stage, the 2010-2011 season came in on the heels of one of the most disappointing Carolina basketball seasons ever. In what may have been one of the worst title defenses of all time a team that was ravaged by injuries and never seemed to gel on or off the court stumbled to a 16-16 regular season record (5-11 ACC) and ended up losing in the final of the NIT. To make matters worse, Duke, with the help of an advantageous draw, cut down the nets in Indianapolis to bring the Devils within one national championship of UNC. One of the few high moments what was otherwise an unmitigated disaster from a Tar Heel fan point of view was the commitment of top recruit Harrison Barnes, the nation's top recruit and perhaps the most heralded high school senior since LeBron.<br />
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Entering this season it was apparent that the roster contained a substantial amount of talent, but nearly all of it was unproven. The natural leader of the team, redshirt senior Will Graves, was kicked off the team prior to the start of the season. Larry Drew II, a junior point guard who had faced significant criticism the previous season was the only returning starter. In fact the previous season there were even rumors of him transferring (*<i>foreshadowing</i>*). Tyler Zeller was also a junior who had shown promising flashed but had spend much of his first two seasons injured. John Henson, Dexter Strickland, and Leslie McDonald were the remaining pieces of what had been a highly heralded and highly disappointing (at least to some impatient UNC fans) freshman class. Justin Knox was a graduate transfer from Alabama, who seemed like a useful stopgap without true star power. Lastly, Barnes was joined by fellow highly rated freshmen Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock who many hoped would make an immediate impact to restore the program to national prominence after a one year leave.<br />
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The offseason was characterized by high expectations from the media and intense debate among fans. Despite the dearth of proven qualities on the roster, the Tar Heels were ranked #8 in the preseason rankings, largely in part to the stratospheric expectations for Harrison Barnes who was voted a preseason All-American and even picked by some to end up national player of the year. Among fans, debates raged about starters and playing time, with a particular emphasis on the point guard position. Due to Larry Drew's poor play the previous season and moments that some fans thought reflected a lack of commitment to the program, many fans advocated starting freshman Kendall Marshall over Drew. In what was not a surprise to anyone who knows Roy Williams' tendencies as a coach, Drew got the starting nod to begin the season.<br />
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I could continue recapping the season in this manner, but if you are reading this post you probably already know rest of the story. So instead I'm going to go through the major highlights and lowlights in a sequential manner (complete with youtube links when appropriate).<br />
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<b>Lowlight #1: Puerto Rico: Land of Sunshine and Disappointment</b><br />
After dispatching Lipscomb and Hofstra<b> </b> in their opening two games, Carolina faced Minnesota in the Puerto Rico tournament semifinals. Larry Drew was unimpressive, the frontcourt was bullied by Ralph Sampson and Trevor Mbakwe and Harrison Barnes went 0-12 from the field. Just two days later, Vanderbilt sent the Tar Heels to a 2-2 record. Barnes was again unimpressive shooting and looked lost and Drew failed to inspire much confidence. Tyler Zeller was the only Tar Heel to impress in Puerto Rico, but had moments where he appeared timid in the paint. Puerto Rico was certainly not encouraging to many Tar Heel fans who still had the previous season's NIT debacle etched into their mind.<br />
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<b>Highlight #1: Tyler Zeller gets UNC its first signature win</b><br />
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Things didn't get immediately better for the Heels after<b> </b>Puerto Rico. The Heels did avenge the previous season's loss to College of Charleston, but Illinois beat Carolina by 12 in Champaign in the Big 10-ACC challenge. The next game was against the Kentucky Wildcats, who like the Tar Heels carried high expectations but little experience. In a game staged in front of a raucous Dean Dome the score was always close, though Kentucky held the advantage for most of the game. However, the Wildcats had to battle foul trouble and Tyler Zeller, who seemed to hold a grudge against the team that injured him his freshman year. John Henson's length rendered freshman superstar Terrence Jones ineffective. Josh Harrelson (pre-steroids and magical coordination pills) was a nonfactor for the Wildcats. In fact the only reason Kentucky was able to hold the advantage for most of the game was the fact that they shot 9-21 from beyond the arc (*<i>more foreshadowing</i>*). Harrison Barnes remained underwhelming but did manage a nice run in the second half punctuated by the putback dunk shown above. In the end Zeller's free throws down the stretch made the difference and Chapel Hill was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.<br />
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<b>Highlight #2/Lowlight #2: Dammit Cory Joseph</b><br />
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A couple weeks later UNC faced off with Texas in Greensboro. The game was well played by both teams, and for the first time, Carolina showed off their potential. After Texas came back to take the lead in the final minutes, Harrison Barnes showed the first glimpse of a clutchness that would define the rest of his season by hitting a huge 3 to tie the game. However, fellow freshman Cory Joseph of the Longhorns hit a Kobe-esque turnaround jumper from the free throw line to give the Longhorns the victory. All in all it was not a performance to be ashamed of, but it prevented UNC from returning to the rankings for the next month.<br />
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<b>Lowlight #3: Beatdown in A-town</b><br />
Following the Texas loss, UNC won five straight including their first two ACC games in come-from-behind victories against Virginia and Virginia Tech. Both of those games were ugly and featured slow starts from UNC, but nonetheless the Heels seemed poised to reenter the top 25 if they could beat 8-8 Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Nothing of the sort happened and instead the Yellow Jackets outhustled and manhandled UNC, forcing the Heels into 18 turnovers and 27.6% shooting from the field (which I thought was the worst a team could shoot until I saw Butler in the National Championship game). In the end Georgia Tech beat Carolina by 20 which sparked both good things (the switch to Kendall Marshall as starting point guard) and bad things (IC temporarily turning into an insane asylum, Roy Williams making some angry comments on his radio show). While I consider myself a pretty reasonable and realistic fan, even I was worried that UNC may miss a second consecutive NCAA tournament.<br />
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<b>Highlight #3: Enter Black Falcon</b><br />
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UNC beat Clemson in a close game at home to keep the Tigers winless in Chapel Hill then traveled to Miami to play the Hurricanes. UNC again started slow but managed to keep the game neck and neck for most of the second half. With the score tied at 71 and 8 seconds on the clock, Barnes hit a three to win the game for Carolina. He followed his clutch antics by putting up 25 against NC State (the first time he broke 20 points) and then 26 in a 32 point beatdown against Boston College. Barnes' breakout propelled the Tar Heels back into the top 25 and made Tar Heel fans aware of his nickname "The Black Falcon" (which while I have embraced it, still comes across as trying a bit too hard to be Kobe).<br />
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<b>Highlight #4: Larry Who?</b><br />
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The switch to Kendall Marshall at point guard after the GT game seemed to go more smoothly than expected. Drew gave UNC a defensive boost off the bench in the four games following Kendall Marshall's promotion. Then, out of nowhere, word came out that Larry Drew had left campus in the middle of the week and would be transferring. In retrospect the decision to leave in the middle of the season still seems bizarre, but it has become more and more clear that his parents (especially his psycho mom) had a lot to do with the decision. With questions of whether a freshman point guard would be able to carry the increased load, Kendall Marshall put on a passing clinic for the ages against Florida State, a team with one of the best defenses in the nation that had beaten Duke just a week earlier. Marshall finished with 16 assists, 9 points, and only 3 turnovers and helped make UNC the first team all season to shoot above 50% against the Seminoles.<br />
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<b>Highlight #5/Lowlight #4: Heels Make a Statement in Durham then Nolan Smith Makes a Louder One</b><br />
While Carolina was suddenly starting to play to their potential, they were still considerable underdogs going into their matchup against Duke in Durham. While Duke had lost freshman phenom Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith was playing at a national player of the year level. So when the Tar Heels came out and jumped out to a 14 point lead at the half in Cameron Indoor, most people were stunned. In the first half, UNC flexed their superior talent and Duke seemed unable to match UNC's athleticism. However, Nolan Smith and Seth Curry led a furious comeback in the second half which was aided by poor perimeter shooting from the Heels. While it stung to lose a game to our arch-rivals in which we held a 14 point lead at halftime, the game proved that Carolina could compete with any team in the nation when playing to their potential.<br />
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<i>We'll stop here. Make sure to check out <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/2011/04/unc-basketball-2010-2011-season-wrapup_11.html">part two</a>.</i>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-46126531095747122062011-03-28T19:15:00.001-04:002011-03-28T19:40:12.351-04:00Reasons For Each of UNC's Big 3 to Stay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt2pGhSbr7CI6rsoLd9e0bCdNX5Yk4GDQNxmL7AKcu5HUKmSljlESVVkQHe7e6Gsw08e14S0170AtF3RCCn35_P1jTg_5nVbs0hsZ4_Fcct1EbzQV_bAfDHLi8Vz5fOMCy26xULB8syPh/s1600/big3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt2pGhSbr7CI6rsoLd9e0bCdNX5Yk4GDQNxmL7AKcu5HUKmSljlESVVkQHe7e6Gsw08e14S0170AtF3RCCn35_P1jTg_5nVbs0hsZ4_Fcct1EbzQV_bAfDHLi8Vz5fOMCy26xULB8syPh/s640/big3.png" width="640" /></a></div>Needless to say I was disappointed with the outcome of yesterday's elite eight game, but when the other team shoots 12-22 from 3 and one of your best players is on the bench in foul trouble it makes it hard to win. I am in the midst of a test week so I will hold of on my UNC season wrap up. Instead I wanted to quickly address the topic that will be on most Carolina fan's minds the next few weeks: whether Henson, Barnes, and Zeller will be back next year. This is not meant to try and convince any of the players to stay (I doubt this blog has 0.001% impact on their decision making process), but rather to break down the reasons of why each of the players may come back next year. Obviously the reasons they would leave are high draft stock following great tournament performances (excluding Henson yesterday) and the guaranteed money that comes with being picked. Also winning a national championship would be an obvious reason all might want to come back. Here are a few more individualized reasons each may decide to don the light blue jerseys one more season:<br />
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<b>Tyler Zeller</b><br />
Zeller wasn't thought to be much of a risk to leave early, but the big man saw his stock rise after a dominant tournament. However, he was an academic all american and may be interested in attaining his degree from one of the top business schools in the nation before he goes on to the NBA. Zeller also has a chance to even further boost his stock if he puts on more muscle, expands his already impressive post game, and begins hitting shots consistently out to 18 feet like Hansbrough did his senior year. His jump hook is a thing of beauty, and if he adds a couple more post moves to his repertoire he may be unstoppable next season. He could build on his tournament dominance and be an All-American next year and see his name up in the rafters.<br />
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<b>John Henson</b><br />
Henson would be a lottery pick right now because of his absurd athleticism and potential. His defensive skills are impressive and he could help NBA teams in that role off the bat. However, his offensive game is inconsistent outside of 5 feet. He improved his FT shooting throughout the season and another year could prevent him from being a liability at the line in the NBA. For someone as long as Henson he actually has a very nice shooting stroke, and one more season could go a long way to developing a consistent jump shot out to 12 feet. He would have a great chance to move up UNC's record books in the blocks and rebound categories. He seems to enjoy being at Chapel Hill, and staying would allow him to be close to his sister who will be playing basketball at Duke next year. His parents financial situation is secure, so he probably does not feel intense pressure to make money right away.<b> </b><b><br />
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<b>Harrison Barnes</b><br />
Barnes is an interesting case. He could be a top 3 pick right now. He has a bright future in the NBA. It would be hard to blame him for going pro, because 95% of kids in his situation would. However, those people aren't Harrison Barnes. I have talked to two people who had "connections" to Barnes and the program that claim he's not leaving. Barnes himself entered college talking about a 3 year plan. Does any of this mean he's staying? Not at all. But it does show he's not your typical freshman sensation. He seems to have a business oriented mind and he may realize that while he could be picked early this year, another year in college would allow him to enhance his brand and come into the league with a superstar aura not seen since LeBron. It's the difference between being a hyped rookie in 2011 and possibly entering with a Nike Black Falcon shoe brand in 2012. He also seems to be very cognizant of his legacy and if he returned he would have a chance to not only help hang a championship banner, but also have #40 hung alongside #12, #50, and most importantly, #23.<br />
<b> </b><br />
Who knows what these guys will decide. The truth is they are all 19-21. Whatever they decide I, and hopefully the rest of Tar Heel nation will support them. I'll never take for granted how awesome they were this year. But if they do decide to come back.... man would next season be something special.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-17139674382394179482011-03-21T10:59:00.002-04:002011-03-21T12:31:56.872-04:00Things I liked and Things I Didn't From The First Weekend<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KICopya1O14&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KICopya1O14&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object><br />
Unfortunately I am in the midst of a nightmare of a couple of weeks of work so I won't be able to blog as much as I would like during the tournament. I have had a chance to see a decent amount of the action this week and while I don't have time to do an in depth breakdown here are some things I liked and some things I didn't from the first weekend of action.<br />
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<u><b>Things I liked:</b></u><br />
1) <b>The ACC in March</b>. A common theme in the media this year was how weak the ACC was this year. However, the conference that owns the past two national championships is again coming up big in March Madness. Clemson had one of their classical meltdowns in the round of 64 against West Virginia, but UNC and Duke are on to the second weekend and Florida State took down second seeded Notre Dame last night. Right now there are more ACC teams in the sweet sixteen (3) than there are Big East teams(2).<br />
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2) <b>TV Coverage of the Tournament</b>. It makes so much sense to put the game on 4 different networks so that you can flip to any of the games. Turner's rights to the broadcast have been a plus too with the addition of Charles Barkley, who just turned Rick Pitino bright red with a rant against the Big East, Kenny Smith, Steve Kerr, Marv Albert, and Craig Sager. Gus Johnson has already had some signature moments announcing close games and he continues to be the most exciting announcer in the nation.<br />
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3) <b>The Chip of VCU's Shoulder</b>. The Rams caught the blunt end of a lot of experts' rants on Selection Sunday about them being less worthy than teams like Colorado and Virginia Tech which got left out. All they have done since being selected is dominate big conference teams USC, Georgetown, and Purdue by a combined <b>49</b> points. Their matchup with the defensive minded Seminoles should make for an interesting Sweet 16 game.<br />
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4) <b>Games Decided in the Final Seconds</b>. I won't even attempt to recap all the games that have that have come down to the buzzer in the tournament, just today the Carolina-Washington, Duke-Michigan, and Texas Arizona games were one possession games with less than 10 seconds on the clock. March Madness truly has no equal and a year that lacked juggernauts has made for an exciting tournament.<br />
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5) <b>North Carolina's Sunday</b>. First the Tar Heels edged out a talented Washington team in Charlotte thanks to the fact that John Henson may be the best player in history at defending the inbound pass. Then Marquette managed to upset Syracuse whose 2-3 zone would have given the Tar Heels nightmares. Buzz Williams' squad is not to be overlooked, but if the higher seeds advance in the East, it would set up a fantastic showdown in the Elite Eight between Carolina and an Ohio State team that looked dominant today against George Mason.<br />
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<u><b>Things I Hated</b></u><br />
1) <b>Decision Making in the last two seconds of Pittsburgh-Butler</b>.<b> </b>Shelvin Mack's foul with 1 second on the clock was boneheaded, but at least to his credit a lot of bumps with time expiring are ignored (see Kansas-UCLA earlier this year). Gilbert Brown also deserves a share of the shame for missing the second free throw which would have iced the game for Pitt. But he missed and what followed was inexcusable. Nasir Robinson blatantly fouled Matt Howard on the rebound which allowed Howard to win the game for Butler at the line. With one second on the clock Robinson had no business even aggressively trying to rebound. If the opposing team makes a 7/8 court shot to win the game then it happens, but you don't foul. I feel for Pittsburgh fans who have had their share of heartbreak (Scottie Reynolds comes to mind), and this loss may have taken the cake.<br />
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2)<b> Texas in March</b>. Not much really needs be said other than that no one consistently gets less out of amazing talent in March than Rick Barnes.<br />
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3) <b>My Bracket.</b> Five of my Elite Eight teams have been eliminated with only Connecticut, Kansas and Ohio State remaining. Granted I could care less if it means the Tar Heels make a championship run, but for someone who feels like they know a lot about college basketball I have really stunk it up.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-88055168509786593772011-03-15T20:37:00.000-04:002011-03-15T20:37:23.946-04:00Bracket Thoughts and Predictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImGnmEK3OYxiUdQyaefY6HQVsrVDCabIWHjwQ75bcHhaZ4KyR7pxLgTiqAfAn0o2YKR6IC-QCuEDi90K5brgaYDJso5tZaOy7loBp9x6n9jmnAYQsw3EoLFsBc5qgZqfTLXSExqagwDJo/s1600/gamers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImGnmEK3OYxiUdQyaefY6HQVsrVDCabIWHjwQ75bcHhaZ4KyR7pxLgTiqAfAn0o2YKR6IC-QCuEDi90K5brgaYDJso5tZaOy7loBp9x6n9jmnAYQsw3EoLFsBc5qgZqfTLXSExqagwDJo/s640/gamers.png" width="640" /></a></div> Thanks to spring break and the start of neuroanatomy this site unfortunately went in to radio silence during one of the most exciting weeks of the year in college basketball. Only bigger and better things await in the next week with the NCAA tournament, but to quickly recap thie highlights of what happened since I last posted:<br />
<br />
<i>UNC laid a beat down on Duke in Chapel Hill to win the ACC regular season title, then Duke returned the favor in Greensboro to nab their 19th ACC tournament title. Kemba Walker went into beast mode for 5 straight games leading Connecticut to the Big East tournament title. It seemed to rain buzzer beaters, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBrae2MhYFI&feature=player_detailpage#t=48s">Tyler Zeller</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6udv8PCJJc"> Princeton</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKbLHkDvhk8">Kemba</a> to<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlcJbATdMfA"> Isiah Thomas</a> (bonus points for the Gus Johnson call on that one). Jimmer scored 52. Harrison Barnes scored 40. VCU and UAB are dancing while Colorado and VT are playing in the Not Invited Tournament. Kansas and Ohio State won their conference tournaments and earned #1 seeds. Seth Greenberg is just confused and Dick Vitale is still yelling somewhere....</i><br />
<br />
Yup, its definitely March.<br />
<br />
Anyways I'll lead off with my bracket and follow with my thoughts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiAfVveWEsFVkqEGT4KPuaT86NNaSGBYzaf3XeNa_QQuyFfcIDTBmyeJJwF8ENCS0HsNSRZnFYyikQ-eyweuh-3DOzWv2CMXhG34Wco6Bxu2RPGQ7RshJB1qOwBH2QkpdzqgaCvkFCwiS/s1600/Bracket.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiAfVveWEsFVkqEGT4KPuaT86NNaSGBYzaf3XeNa_QQuyFfcIDTBmyeJJwF8ENCS0HsNSRZnFYyikQ-eyweuh-3DOzWv2CMXhG34Wco6Bxu2RPGQ7RshJB1qOwBH2QkpdzqgaCvkFCwiS/s640/Bracket.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>(Click to Enlarge)</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>For the first time in a while I did my best to pick with my head and not with my heart (no worries though I definitely have a second ESPN bracket which has the Tar Heels cutting down the nets in Houston). I realize I went a bit chalk with three one seeds in the Final Four, but Ohio State and Kansas are playing very well right now and Pittsburgh has a cushy road to Houston. The one #1 seed not picked to make is Duke. I can't claim I'm unbiased when approaching the Blue Devils, but I think Texas has the athleticism to give the Dookies problems out west.<br />
<br />
The East bracket is pretty loaded with talent. With Ohio State, Syracuse, Kentucky and UNC it's not lacking for big names either. Potential Sweet Sixteen pairings of OSU-Kentucky and Syracuse-UNC would be must see TV. The West may be a shade under the east but also has heavy hitters in UConn, SDSU, Duke, Texas and Arizona. Tennessee is a bit of a dark horse in the west, as they have amazing athleticism but lack consistency. In the Southwest, a Purdue-Notre Dame matchup in the Sweet Sixteen would be a treat for basketball purists, but don't be overly surprised if FSU manages to knock off the Irish. With a healthy Chris Singleton, the Seminoles have the ability to defend Notre Dame on the perimeter. In the Southeast, I still don't like MSU making the tournament, but their draw sets up pretty well for an Elite Eight run if Tom Izzo can once again capture lighting in a bottle in March.<br />
<br />
<b>Players to Watch</b><br />
<u>East:</u> Jared Sullinger (OSU), Terrence Jones (UK), Corey Fisher (Vilanova), Demontez Stitt (Clemson), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Scoop Jardine (Syracuse), Isiah Thomas (Washington), Harrison Barnes (UNC)<br />
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<u>West:</u> Nolan Smith (Duke), Scotty Hopson (Tennessee), Derrick Williams (Arizona), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Marcus Denmon (Missouri), Kemba Walker (Connecticut), Lavoy Allen (Temple), Kawhi Leonard (SDSU)<br />
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<u>Southwest:</u> Marcus Morris (Kansas), Demetri McCamey (Illinois), Kenneth Faried (Morehead State), John Jenkins (Vanderbilt), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Chris Singleton (FSU), Ben Hansbrough (ND)<br />
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<u>Southeast:</u> Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh), Jacob Pullen (KSU), Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin), THE JIMMER (BYU), Durrell Summers (MSU), Chandler Parsons (Florida)<br />
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<b>Five First Round Games Not To Miss</b><br />
<b> </b>1) <u>12 Clemson vs. 5 West Virginia (12:15 Thursday - CBS)</u> - Bit of a risky prediction since Clemson has to win tonight against UAB to even have a chance to play WVU. Also risky given Clemson's recent tournament history. Still I think Brad Brownell is an upgrade at coach over Oliver Purnell and Clemson has a strong frontcourt and a talented senior leader at guard in Demontez Stitt. Look for the Tigers to pull the upset.<br />
<br />
2) <u>13 Morehead State vs. 4 Louisville (1:40 Thursday - TBS)</u> - Louisville is the better team, but Kenneth Faried is the all time NCAA leader in rebounding and could have a field day with Louisville's smaller frontline. I'm still going with Louisville in a close one.<br />
<br />
3) <u>10 Michigan State vs. 7 UCLA (9:20 Thursday - TBS)</u> - The Bruins finished the season strong and freshman Josh Smith really began to come into his own in the second half of the season. Next year paired with the Wears, the Bruins could have a pretty formidable frontline. As disappointing as Michigan State was during the regular season, they still have talent on their roster and final four experience. I'm going with Izzo over Howland in this one.<br />
<br />
4) <u>9 Villanova vs. 8 George Mason (2:10 Friday - TNT)</u> - The Wildcats limp into the tournament and have to face a team on the opposite end of the spectrum in George Mason. I don't expect a return trip to the Final Four for the Patriots this year, but I do think they put Villanova out of their misery.<br />
<br />
5) <u>5 Georgetown vs. 12 USC (9:50 Friday - TNT)</u> - Again this is presupposing that the Spartans knock off VCU, but I think Georgetown could be in a bit of trouble with their smaller frontcourt if they have to face Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson. Assuming Chris Wright is relatively healthy I think the Hoyas squeak this one out in a close one, but if Wright is not himself look for the Trojans to pull the upset.<br />
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I hopefully will be updating this blog with thoughts after each round so keep checking back. This last part is aimed at Carolina fans so if you aren't interested in how I think UNC could manage to win it all then feel free to navigate away.<br />
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.scout.com/media/image/91/913254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://media.scout.com/media/image/91/913254.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also in this scenario this is not called a charge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Okay, well as a Carolina fan I wasn't overly thrilled with UNC's draw. I hated not picking the Tar Heels to win it all, but they have so many obstacles in their way and are such a young team I don't really think its going to happen. Still I do believe there is a somewhat realistic draw for the Heels that would allow them a shot at a sixth NCAA banner. In the <b>first round</b> the Heels should light up LIU, who likes to play uptempo. They will probably face Washington in the <b>second round</b>, who has become somewhat of a trendy pick to upset Carolina. Still I think UNC is a better team and will have the home court advantage in Charlotte. The <b>Sweet Sixteen</b> is where things will have to fall into place for the Heels. I have a really hard time seeing UNC cracking Syracuse's zone defense, so for UNC to advance I think Xavier will have to upset the Orangemen in the second round then catch Tu Holloway on a mediocre shooting night. That puts Carolina in the <b>Elite Eight</b> where they probably will face Ohio State. While perhaps Kentucky would be an easier matchup, I expect Sullinger to wreak havoc on the Wildcats. Furthermore, despite the fact they are a #1 seed, Ohio State doesn't scare me as much as Syracuse. Henson and Zeller's length could bother Sullinger and if the Heels can avoid giving Diebler too many open looks from beyond the arc I think the Heels could take down the Buckeyes. Now in this hypothetical scenario UNC is playing San Diego State in the <b>Final Four</b> who knocked off Texas in the Elite Eight (Duke lost to Tennessee in the second round... hey it's my hypothetical). Carolina has the athletes to match up with the Aztecs who are a little overwhelmed by the Final Four. In the <b>Championship</b> Carolina faces off with Pittsburgh who coasted to the Final Four and took out the Purdue Boilermakers in the other semifinal. Harrison Barnes goes off and UNC gets Pittsburgh playing an uptempo game in which they can't keep up with the Heels. Strickland is in Gibbs' grill all day and prevents him from getting good looks from beyond the arc. UNC wins by six. Party on Franklin Street.<br />
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For the record I don't think this happens, nor do I expect it to. Considering where UNC was last year it would be a victory for the Tar Heels to make the second weekend and have Duke lose at some point. Still it can't hurt to hope.... HARK THE SOUND!<br />
<b> </b>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-64438548339158362002011-03-03T18:50:00.000-05:002011-03-03T18:50:10.827-05:00Random NCAA Basketball MusingsThe sound you hear is hundreds of facts about bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites rushing out of my brain (though in seriousness most of it was pretty cool). After perhaps the most intimidating test of med school I finally have a chance to get back on here and write about college basketball. I was going to write a UNC-Duke column, but I haven't finalized the angle I am going to take, so expect that sometime tomorrow. In the past couple months the posts I have managed to find time to write have all been focused on either ACC basketball or Carolina basketball. Since we are 11 days from selection Sunday, now is as good a time as ever for a survey of the college basketball landscape.<br />
<br />
<b>BYU does not approve of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQlIhraqL7o">Lonely Island's recent single</a></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/I-Just-Had-Sex-SNL-Digital-Short-500x333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/I-Just-Had-Sex-SNL-Digital-Short-500x333.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Role of BYU will be played by Jessica Alba</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Perhaps the biggest story this week was BYU big Brandon Davies being kicked off the team for an honor code violation. The violation? He admitted to having premarital sex with his girlfriend. I completely respect that BYU has their honor code and that students who go there agree to abide by that honor code. However, from a basketball perspective, BYU went from a potential #1 seed following their sweep of SDSU this weekend to possibly a 3 seed. The Cougars sans Davies got waxed last night by New Mexico. They still have the Jimmer, but going into the tournament now fall more into the Davidson '08 category as opposed to having a shot to make the finals like Butler did last year. It personally just amazes me an athlete would be kicked off a team for something that a large handful of college basketball players are probably doing as I write this. The whole fiasco already has sparked a lot of jokes (Bill Simmons wrote on twitter that "Breaking the BYU honor code" is his new favorite euphemism for sex), but as I said before BYU has the right to create and uphold their own honor code regardless of whether I, or anyone else on the outside agree with it. Still it would have been fun to see how far a full-strength BYU team could have gone in the tournament.<br />
<br />
<b>Finding Goliath</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPrFnkyKmoWF4YOFW4YnaZseJIMMSR6qIYrP7lNgM2pZ9ojUfhCuVGfgO7gvnsHC6vLw3ydnSuPzoVYYQy_C2QyqPsvYJeiR7giupNPBCRWsZp8KYk9-OIF5lNbGXyt9tqqG76PMyTFmJ/s1600/OSU.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPrFnkyKmoWF4YOFW4YnaZseJIMMSR6qIYrP7lNgM2pZ9ojUfhCuVGfgO7gvnsHC6vLw3ydnSuPzoVYYQy_C2QyqPsvYJeiR7giupNPBCRWsZp8KYk9-OIF5lNbGXyt9tqqG76PMyTFmJ/s320/OSU.png" width="320" /></a></div>No one team seems to stand above the rest. Ever since OSU suffered their first loss to Wisconsin, no team has taken a hold of the top spot in the polls for more than a week. There doesn't appear to be a single team in the nation without vulnerabilities. Duke has a great frontcourt and a mediocre backcourt. Pittsburgh is tough and defends well but isn't explosive offensively. Kansas can get inconsistent play from their backcourt. Texas looks dangerously close to another march meltdown under Rick Barnes. Ohio State is probably the closest thing to a dominant team with their only losses coming on the road at Purdue and Wisconsin. Still they are a far cry from the dominant team that was the 2009 Tar Heels, 2007 Gators, or any of the top seeds in 2008. I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple #1 seeds fall early in this tournament.<br />
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<b>At least one of the following red-hot teams are going to make the Final Four: Purdue</b><b>, Louisville, St. Johns, Wisconsin, North Carolina</b><br />
With the aforementioned lack of a dominant team, the field is wide open for a team ranked in the 6-15 range to make a national title run. In their past 5 games the combined record of these teams is 23-2 with one of the losses coming when Wisconsin played Purdue. Purdue is exceeding all expectations sans Robbie Hummel. St. Johns has made a living out of beating top teams in the Garden over the past two months. Wisconsin has a great pair of players in Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor and the Badgers slow paced style allows them to hang with any team. Since Kendall Marshall was inserted in the lineup at UNC, their sole loss came by 6 at Cameron Indoor after holding a 14 point lead at the half (more on UNC later). Louisville is probably the weakest of the bunch, but they are playing well and Rick Pitino remains one of the best coaches in the sport.<br />
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<b>If Barnes, Henson, and Zeller return for UNC next season college basketball may have another dominant team</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhgyghrhEa1qhd7iho1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhgyghrhEa1qhd7iho1_400.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harrison Barnes Tigerblood > Charlie Sheen Tigerblood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Zeller has had a breakout year this season and leads the Tar Heels in scoring.<b> </b>Barnes got off to a slow start and still can be inconsistent shooting, but he has really broken out in the second half of the season. The Black Falcon (as he is sometimes called) hit an absolutely cold blooded three to beat FSU last night, and his late game heroics and recent trend of ferocious dunks have inspired my new<a href="http://blackfalconthebasedgod.tumblr.com/page/3"> favorite website on the internet</a>. As much as Barnes has improved, John Henson, who many labeled a bust after last season, has elevated his play even more. Henson has become a terror in the paint with his ability to block shots and rebound and he has added a pretty nice arsenal of post moves to his game on the offensive end. Even his much-maligned free throw shooting has been significantly better as of late, which could come up big in the tournament. Furthermore, Rasheed Wallace, who has been practicing with the team lately, seems to have rubbed off on Henson. In a recent interview Henson listed 'Sheed as his favorite past Tar Heel and Henson is playing with a 'Sheed-esque swagger as of late (in true 'Sheed fashion he even was whistled for a technical last night). <br />
<br />
While Zeller will probably be back next year, Henson and Barnes are projected to be lottery picks. Both seem to enjoy Carolina and neither come from backgrounds where there is a pressing need to make money as quickly as possible. I think both could use one more year to really elevate their games, but it is always hard to turn down the opportunity to be a lottery pick. If they do return though, mark down the Tar Heels as the odds-on favorite for 2012. Anyways, this wraps up my college basketball thoughts, check back tomorrow for a UNC-Duke post.<br />
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<b>Oh and Virginia Tech is on the bubble, what else is new?</b>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-72081397845988154842011-02-04T17:47:00.000-05:002011-02-04T17:47:18.689-05:00Rapid Reaction to Larry Drew Leaving<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www2.journalnow.com/mgmedia/image/294/0/128164/freshman-kendall-marshall/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www2.journalnow.com/mgmedia/image/294/0/128164/freshman-kendall-marshall/" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture is of a Tar Heel, not Larry Drew II </td></tr>
</tbody></table>When I first saw the ESPN article this morning by Pat Forde reporting that Larry Drew was immediately leaving the Tar Heels I was floored. I was in class so I wasn't able to consistently check up on the situation but by around 1:00 PM it became apparent that Drew was indeed bolting. After watching Roy Williams' press conference and letting things sink in I've come to a couple conclusions concerning this whole mess.<br />
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<b>1) Larry Drew Sr. was pulling the strings on this one</b><br />
Look, it is highly possible that Drew II decided he was done with UNC when he was supplanted as the starter. Still, he seemed to be taking his demotion well and was quietly playing some of the best basketball of his career. Based on how surprised all his teammates seemed, I don't think he really detested being at UNC. I think his father decided that Drew II needed to start and told him that to do so he needed to get out of Chapel Hill. That brings me to my next point.<br />
<br />
<b> 2) The timing does make sense, but only in the most selfish of ways</b><br />
For the first 3 hours after the announcement I just couldn't understand the rationale for leaving now. Drew would have to sit out a year whether he left now or at the end of the season and it wasn't like the Tar Heels were middling in mediocrity like last season. Then I realized that at this moment Drew II's stock is about as high as its going to get this season. He just had a great 3 game stretch and perhaps may have convinced some smaller D1 schools that he is a valuable asset. My guess is that Daddy Drew recognized this and basically told his son that if he wanted to keep his dream of playing in the NBA alive he needed to get out and get out now.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b> 3) If the rationale I just mentioned is true then UNC is well rid of Drew and his father</b><br />
I supported Larry Drew much of last season and this season. Even when it became apparent to me early on that Marshall needed to be the starter I still held off on bashing Drew and thought he could be a valuable asset at backup and with his significantly improved defense. However, this move was remarkably selfish and demonstrated that he put the name on the back of the jersey ahead of the name on the front. Perhaps he still will end up a decent player, but I'm happy he's no longer a Tar Heel.<br />
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<b>4) With regards to recruiting I think people are blaming the wrong culprit</b><br />
I've seen a lot of people on IC today that Roy Williams needs to stop recruiting from California. True he has had 4 Cali boys transfer out of the program but I don't think being from California was the deciding factor. Alex Stepheson handled his transfer gracefully and whether or not it was really due to a sick father it made sense. UNC had Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson returning in the frontcourt and had two high profile freshmen in the incoming class in Zeller and Ed Davis. I think the Wears and Drew both can be attributed more to micromanaging parents rather than being from the golden state. Admittedly, were I Coach Williams I may be a little less likely to pursue California recruits, but I would be way more cautious with regards to the player's parents.<br />
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<b>5) The Case for UNC being better off without Drew II this season</b><br />
Drew's departure opens the door for Kendall Marshall to take full reins of this team and be its leader. Marshall will likely see 30+ minutes a game now and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up leading the ACC in assists by the end of the season. The Domino effect on the depth chart will also open up more minutes for both Leslie McDonald and Reggie Bullock, both of whom have showed promise in reserve roles. Most players seemed to enjoy playing with Marshall more. UNC's FG% and 3PT % is bound to improve. The team seems to be very close and could use this incident as further motivation. The whole team will be in Chapel Hill during the summer. UNC didn't have backups who saw significant minutes behind Raymond and Tywon. Did I mention Kendall MF'ing Marshall?<br />
<br />
<b>6) The Case for UNC being worse off without Drew II this season</b><br />
Marshall is still not that great of a defender and may not be in good enough shape to handle 30+ minutes per game. Dexter Strickland has improved playing off the ball this season but was ineffective at point guard last year (to be fair to Strickland he was playing PG for the first time). Drew II sometimes seemed to spark UNC's defensive intensity and there could be a trickle down effect due to his departure. IC trolls will begin to attack another player on the team now that Drew II is gone.<br />
<br />
<b>7) TJ Yates is the man</b><br />
This seems to be out of nowhere but I just want to draw the contrast between how each handled his situation. Both entered this academic year with many detractors and both seemed poised to be upended by younger, more promising prospects. Yates ignored the critics, worked to improve and helped lead UNC through a season full of adversity, breaking school records along the way. It ended with him leading a game tying drive in the Music City bowl which UNC would eventually win to secure its first bowl victory in a long time. Drew spend the summer in California working with his father instead of in Chapel Hill getting used to playing with his teammates. He was thoroughly mediocre throughout most of the season and eventually was replaced in the starting lineup by Marshall which ended with this whole debacle. Lets put it this way. When TJ Yates is out at a bar in Chapel Hill, most Tar Heel fans will want to buy him a beer. Drew II will be lucky if he gets served by the bartender. Larry Drew is no longer a Tar Heel. I'm really not sure if he ever was.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-27596281766744967322011-01-18T22:36:00.003-05:002011-01-18T22:36:57.248-05:00The Streak Lives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeJKaifquhgNi3-_QKOh7zXOKhWfDqfpLNkcjn4WBvsN7C8iYs8gOigr1p0bqvBs_Ost8rc_V_V8WVkediCX-1MWr-r2JY4A7xesse9nJpOaH1rbskUOArG46lJFY8saONnMtWqdYvhf_/s1600/Klempson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeJKaifquhgNi3-_QKOh7zXOKhWfDqfpLNkcjn4WBvsN7C8iYs8gOigr1p0bqvBs_Ost8rc_V_V8WVkediCX-1MWr-r2JY4A7xesse9nJpOaH1rbskUOArG46lJFY8saONnMtWqdYvhf_/s640/Klempson.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I needed this one.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-56494018847003692722010-12-31T11:55:00.001-05:002010-12-31T11:56:12.350-05:00The X Factors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkdJOg9yWVtEwdJ1-9lYFgS7W_ni-rOmgvK5A9eVlSGBYlD4wj_JyBkS7WM3oQZV4qJJlU8qZJOl33ksDGxbrBrWyGAciMB4HWFn74w7HEZJaCzbXwyQQgG3Pwngj9iPZiZQFUwPysHqq/s1600/Leslie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkdJOg9yWVtEwdJ1-9lYFgS7W_ni-rOmgvK5A9eVlSGBYlD4wj_JyBkS7WM3oQZV4qJJlU8qZJOl33ksDGxbrBrWyGAciMB4HWFn74w7HEZJaCzbXwyQQgG3Pwngj9iPZiZQFUwPysHqq/s400/Leslie.png" width="251" /></a></div>With the non-conference schedule coming to an end this Sunday against what should be little more than a stepping stone in St Francis, the shape of the 2010-2011 Tar Heel basketball team is coming into focus. Tyler Zeller is the go to scorer. John Henson is a presence in the paint and on the boards and seems to have figured out what does and does not work for him on offense. The point guard position remains an issue of constant debate, but neither Drew nor Marshall are going to score much more than 10 points in most games. Harrison Barnes has fallen short of his astronomical expectations, but can be expected to contribute between 10-16 points on most nights. However, through the first 14 games of the season, the X factors on this team have been the pair of sophomore guards, Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald. <br />
<br />
Strickland has started at shooting guard all season and over the past month seems to have really elevated his offensive game. With respect to Drew ‘s much improved defense and Henson’s penchant for shot-blocking, Stickland has been the best defender all season. He is 6th in the ACC in steals with 1.62/game. In fact, one could argue that Strickland, who switched his jersey to #1, a number worn last season by Marcus Ginyard, has been a more effective lockdown defender than Ginyard was last season. Playing out of position last season, Strickland often seemed out of control and couldn’t consistently finish in transition despite his impressive speed. This season Strickland looks much more impressive in transition, pushing the ball on fast breaks and finishing consistently. He also has done a good job at the charity stripe shooting a respectable 72.9%. While not an outside shooter, he has knocked down 50% of his attempts from beyond the arc. <br />
<br />
Strickland’s backup, Leslie McDonald has also shown marked improvement this season. McDonald is not the defensive pest that Strickland is on the defensive end of the ball nor is he as explosive in on the fast break. However, McDonald has done a pretty damn good Wayne Ellington impression (McDonald is now wearing #2, the number Ellington wore as a freshman) on several occasions this season. McDonald is the most assertive scorer on the team, one of the things that impressed me last season when he seemed at times the only player outside of Will Graves willing to confidently throw up a shot from beyond the arc. While not Ellington, I feel Wayne is best comparison for McDonald who some have compared to Danny Green (McDonald is shooting an impressive 43.2% from 3 point range). While McDonald has certainly disappeared at times this season, he has been an explosive scoring force off the bench who by his junior and senior seasons may be able to do an even better job of making it Wayne on a more consistent basis. <br />
<br />
<br />
While, Strickland and McDonald’s complementary skill sets do sometimes make fans wish the two could be combined into one player (Lester StrickDonald?), the improvement of the two sophomores show just how silly it is for players to be declared busts or disappointments after their freshman season. The two will continue to improve over their four (or maybe three) years at Carolina and could be stars as upperclassmen. This year don’t be surprised if the Heels go as far as their pair of sophomore guards take them.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-43892336064341297112010-12-08T18:23:00.001-05:002010-12-08T18:26:28.496-05:00A Matter of Perspective<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c1910342/media_center/images/rendered/blog/wysiwyg/TJ-Yates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c1910342/media_center/images/rendered/blog/wysiwyg/TJ-Yates.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Larry Drew could take a lesson from him</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Between having very little free time and my focus on UNC basketball, the UNC football program was pretty much ignored on this blog this fall. Prior to the start of the season, I wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek post about going through the 5 stages of grief for UNC's football season after it became apparent that the agent and academic investigations would leave a serious dent in a defensive unit that was being mentioned along those of top SEC schools. What I thought would be a dent ended up being more of a Crater. Here's a quick breakdown of the players who missed time (a big thanks to <a href="http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/"><b style="color: red;">TarHeelFan</b>,</a> an awesome UNC blog that made it a lot easier to find all of this).<br />
<br />
<b>Missed Time but Cleared (games missed):</b> Shaun Draughn (1), DaNorris Searcy (2), Linwan Euwell (5), Ryan Houston (season-decided to redshirt).<br />
<b>Suspended (games missed):</b> Deunta Williams (4), Kendric Burney (7), Charles Brown (season), Brian Gupton (season), Jonathan Smith (season)<br />
<b>Declared Permanently Ineligible:</b> Marvin Austin (dismissed from the program), Greg Little, Michael McAdoo, Devon Ramsay<br />
<br />
Considering that Austin, Quinn, Williams, and Burney were all projected to go in the first 3 rounds, the fact that UNC's defense was able to field even a respectable unit it a testament to the depth and coaching of the unit. The fact that the entire linebacker core avoided missing games due to suspension (though Sturdivant did miss a few due to injury) played a big part in holding things together. Perhaps more surprising than the defense's performance however was T.J. Yates' transformation into a very good college quarterback in his senior season. While the loss of Little and Houston were significant the offense was more a victim to injuries than suspensions. Yates' favorite target, tight end Zach Pinalto, broke his fibula and has been injured on all 3 of his collegiate touchdowns. Johnny White, who stepped up in a big way as a senior and was well on his way to a 1000+ yard season, broke his clavicle against Florida State. Even with those injuries Yates' stellar play kept the offense together. Dwight Jones broke out this season and is 105 yards short of a 1000 yard season going into UNC's bowl game. Ultimately considering how many key players missed time, a 7-5 record and a trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl and a meeting with Tennessee seems an overwhelming success. On the other hand though, UNC was picked by some to win the ACC and was even considered a dark horse contender before Marvin Austin's tweets launched the team into a maelstrom. So the obvious question arises: "Was the 2010 UNC football season a success or a failure."<br />
<br />
In attempt to answer this question lets quickly take a look at the high and low points of the season.<br />
<br />
<b>High Points</b><br />
<ul><li>TJ Yates' and Jhey Boyd leading a furious comeback against and LSU squad that would only lose 2 games this season despite UNC missing 12 players on the defensive side of the ball</li>
<li>UNC's dominant second half against ECU a game in which both Johnny White and Shaun Draughn both broke 100 yards on the ground</li>
<li>A home win against Clemson and watching my med school class president, a Clemson alum, wear a UNC shirt the next day as a result of me winning our bet on the game</li>
<li>Ending a 29 year draught at UVA with a dominating 44-10 victory</li>
<li>The entirity of the UNC-FSU game. One of the most entertaining games of the year. And a special mention for Hunter Furr's late game heroics.</li>
<li>TJ Yates putting together a great season and taking hold of most of the UNC passing records</li>
</ul><b>Low Points</b><br />
<ul><li>Injuries and Suspensions covered in depth above</li>
<li>Watching UNC's depleted defense fail to stop GT's triple option offense</li>
<li>Blowout losses to Miami and VT after promising starts to each game</li>
<li>Blowing yet another 4th quarter lead against NC State and the resulting explosion of Wolfpack ego</li>
<li>Jhey Boyd disappearing from the offense after what seemed like a breakout game against LSU</li>
</ul>As painful as the losses were, it deserves to be said that all of the games UNC lost were expected to be tough games even prior to all of the suspensions. UNC won the games it was supposed to and even a couple it wasn't. Furthermore, even had the team been at full strength, there is no sure bet that they could have taken down a VT squad that went undefeated in conference play. And even if the heels had managed to go undefeated (which very few were predicting) they still would likely have been on the outside looking in on a Oregon-Auburn national championship game. Furthermore, given the state of the program just 5 years ago, a bowl berth at 7-5 is not all that bad of a result. One other silver lining of all the suspensions is that many younger players on the defensive end of the ball got a chance to develop, especially Donte-Paige Moss. Factor that in with the fact that some players such as Gupton and Charles Brown will be back next year after their suspensions and UNC may be able to field a pretty solid unit on defense in 2011.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fkGGg4KhKOc/S8JbXzie3HI/AAAAAAAAA1o/1tqozWRHZEw/s576/keithcoward.com-8790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fkGGg4KhKOc/S8JbXzie3HI/AAAAAAAAA1o/1tqozWRHZEw/s400/keithcoward.com-8790.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dwight Jones could be a star next season</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Still, one is left to wonder what might have been had Marvin Austin never gotten on twitter. UNC may have had one of the best defenses in the nation. They could very realistically taken down LSU in Atlanta (who won the game primarily on special teams) and probably would have fared much better against' GT's triple option. The games at Miami and against Virginia Tech would have been tough, but few can deny that UNC would have stood a better chance with Austin and Quinn rushing Jacory Harris and Tyrod Taylor. Couple a full defense with TJ Yates' improvement and an additional target in Greg Little and UNC could have been something really special. As I said VT would have still been a very tough game, but its not unrealistic to believe UNC would be playing in the Orange Bowl had the academic/agent scandal never happened.<br />
<br />
While whether you view the season as a success or a failure is largely a matter of perspective, oddly enough I think the result of UNC's bowl game will go a long way in determining the ultimate answer to the question. Over the past two seasons UNC posted 8-4 records, but failed to win their bowl game match ups (both of which yours truly attended). Tennessee is certainly not top competition, but they do hail from the vaunted SEC. Furthermore, in an enterating twist of irony Tennessee had played millions to back out of a deal that would have pitted the Tar Heels and the Volunteers in a home-away series over the next two seasons. If UNC wins, I will still always wonder what might have been, but in the end I will consider this season somewhat of a success.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-68906252306731294312010-10-29T15:20:00.001-04:002010-10-29T15:20:27.165-04:00Counting down the 10 Can't Miss UNC Basketball Games for 2010-2011<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdflw1HhTpr6VrFFx97GEapCZi8xj39JGT1yFF7q2hAOr5g1EYASyH_P80c5by-ZM6c8L_s9dH_PdBAMXnYE0_YpLfM1_YRqd-dl6aBkW0CiTDbAPpYkFqlLJU9j-NTkx84r1LZMxky4BB/s640/adsflkjs.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brandon Knight and Kyle Singler are just two of the stars UNC will face this season</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdflw1HhTpr6VrFFx97GEapCZi8xj39JGT1yFF7q2hAOr5g1EYASyH_P80c5by-ZM6c8L_s9dH_PdBAMXnYE0_YpLfM1_YRqd-dl6aBkW0CiTDbAPpYkFqlLJU9j-NTkx84r1LZMxky4BB/s1600/adsflkjs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>The Tar Heels kick off their college basketball season in two weeks against Lipscomb. While I will undoubtedly get over-excited for what (hopefully) shouldn't be much of a game, the 2010-2011 Tar Heel basketball schedule offers a cornucopia of enticing showdowns. Now that I am done with anatomy and have a bit of my free time back I decided to count down the top 10 can't miss games of the upcoming Tar Heel basketball season. Given how much of an embarrassment last season was for Carolina, there is a common theme of payback in many of these games. While preseason polls have built up expectations once again for UNC, to truly rebound and put last season in the past, the Heels will need to take care of business in many of these games. But that's enough buildup, time to start counting down...<br />
<br />
<b>10) College of Charleston at UNC (November 28)</b><br />
Any other season a matchup with College of Charleston would probably not crack the top 25 games of a UNC basketball season. However, last year's OT loss in Chaleston proved to be the start of a free fall that saw a team ranked in the preseason top 10 end up in the NIT. After the loss last season John Henson received criticism for tweeting that the Heels had just made someones college career relevant. Perhaps this season Henson will make his own college career more relevant with a dominating performance against the Cougars. I expect UNC to make a statement early in th season with a beatdown of College of Charleston. <br />
<br />
<b>9) UNC at Georgia Tech (January 16)</b><br />
The Tar Heels' visit to Atlanta will allow Carolina to exact revenge on a team that emerged victorious not one, not two, but three times against them last season. Georgia Tech should take a step back this season after losing Lawal, Peacock, and Favors but still remain formidable in the backcourt with Shumpert and Glen Rice Jr. returning among others.<br />
<br />
<b>8) Clemson at UNC (January 18)</b><br />
One of the few silver linings of last season was that Carolina did not have to play Clemson in the Dean Dome. If they had, perhaps Clemson may have finally snapped the 54 game losing streak at Carolina. Fortunately the streak still stands and UNC will look to extend it to 55 games against at Clemson team that will be in a bit of a rebuilding year.<br />
<br />
<b>7) Texas at UNC (<i>in Greensboro</i>, December 18)</b><br />
When UNC played Texas in the new Cowboys stadium last December many felt the matchup pitted two of the best teams in the nation. While Texas emerged victorious, both teams disappointed throughout the rest of the season with UNC missing the NCAA tournament and Texas exiting in the first round. Texas will have a different look this season after the departures of Dexter Pittman, Avery Bradley, and Damien James but they add top PG recruit Cory Joseph to a team that still has a very talented, if heretofore underachieving, roster.<br />
<br />
<b>6) UNC at Illinois (November 30)</b><br />
This rematch of the 2005 National Championship game will pit two programs with strong legacies looking to return to prominence in college basketball. This will be the first true test for UNC's talented but young roster in a hostile environment. Illinois has a talented backcourt, but I have a feeling that this game will turn into the Harrison Barnes show as UNC scores a win for the ACC in the Big Ten-ACC challenge..<br />
<br />
<b>5) UNC at Duke (February 9)</b><br />
After four years of dominance at Duke that led many UNC fans to rename the stadium "Hansbrough Indoor Stadium," the Blue Devils laid an absolute beatdown on UNC at home last season. Duke enters the season as overwhelming favorites to repeat and will likely be ranked #1 going into this matchup. While I do not expect UNC to be able to win this season in Cameron Indoor, there is no doubt that Harrison Barnes will look to prove he made the right choice. Also, Reggie Bullock should expect to hear a lot from the Cameron Crazies after his comments this summer.<br />
<br />
<b>4) Virginia Tech at UNC (January 13)</b><br />
Despite UNC being ranked higher in the preseason polls, it was Virginia Tech and not UNC that was picked to finish second (behind Duke) in the ACC. I for one think Virginia Tech, which exited the NIT earlier than UNC last season, is being vastly overrated. However, Malcolm Delaney is a contender for ACC player of the year. Look for UNC to lay their claim as the clear #2 in the ACC in this early January matchup.<br />
<br />
<b>3) UNC at NC State (February 23)</b><br />
Even despite all the issues last year's team had, Carolina managed to take care of NC State in both of their matchups. Over the past five years UNC has absolutely dominated their "rivals" from Raleigh. However the Wolfpack returns Tracy Smith and adds three top recruits in Ryan Harrow, Lorenzo Brown, and CJ Leslie. If NC State hopes to rejuvenate the rivalry with Carolina, they will need to win at home. <br />
<br />
<b>2) Kentucky at UNC (December 4)</b><br />
While Michigan State-Duke will be the most anticipated game of the upcoming basketball season (and with good reason), the December 4 matchup of the Tar Heels and the Wildcats may be the most talent assembled on a basketball court all season. UK again will depend on a #1 freshmen class to carry the team, featuring Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Stacey Poole, and perhaps Enes Kanter. UNC has slightly more experience, but will still need big contributions from Barnes and Bullock as well as sophomores John Henson and Dexter Strickland. This game may be sloppy at times, but also will likely be chock full of ESPN highlights. <br />
<br />
<b>1) Duke at UNC (March 5)</b><br />
UNC will likely not be able to pull off a victory in Durham in February. However, if healthy Carolina should have a pretty good shot to take down the Dookies in the Dean Dome in March. My guess is that both teams will be ranked in the top 10 entering this matchup. If UNC can beat Duke in March they may be looking at a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-221020541474876622010-09-03T18:45:00.003-04:002010-09-03T18:53:09.308-04:00Going Through the 5 Stages of Grief for UNC Football<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZuhC0yjG516k2sti-ZuRvtQGPb6UaMo86JnzJpPjxaZnhJ_-fLG8yB4GRAfx-ftSUy7-S7qqmhXlRSuah_hiBli43nL6Cl6gMv7Tdt8Zzaa_hi30s5ZIcgrtciiBvyHNicYJfZ0jS4Y/s1600/AustinLittle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZuhC0yjG516k2sti-ZuRvtQGPb6UaMo86JnzJpPjxaZnhJ_-fLG8yB4GRAfx-ftSUy7-S7qqmhXlRSuah_hiBli43nL6Cl6gMv7Tdt8Zzaa_hi30s5ZIcgrtciiBvyHNicYJfZ0jS4Y/s400/AustinLittle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hey Greg, we're gonna be awesome next year, lets go take a trip to celebrate"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Four years ago to the day I was a freshman at the University of North Carolina preparing to attend my first ever UNC Football game. At the time Jon Bunting was the coach and most students I met at Carolina felt Tar Heel football was just a distraction (and a mediocre one at that) to hold us over until basketball season started. I soon realized that UNC football did indeed suck as the team floundered to a 3-9 mark only beating Furman (by 3), NC State, and of course Duke (we sucked but we didn't suck that much).<br />
<br />
However, when Bunting was shown the door at the end of the season and replaced by Butch Davis, an unfamiliar sense of optimism arose among the Tar Heel faithful. This optimism was not as much rooted in a belief that Davis was a master strategist, but instead based on Butch's recruiting prowess. In his first year he managed to bring in a monster (for UNC anyways) class headlined by top recruits Marvin Austin and Greg Little (cue foreshadowing music).<br />
<br />
While the team was still unimpressive (amassing a 4-8 record) in Davis's first year, the team showed glimpses of talent. With the development and addition of the talented recruits Davis was reeling in the Heels managed to put together consecutive winning seasons, each capped with a bowl appearance. When a large group of talented juniors (mainly on the defensive side of the ball) decided to bypass the draft last spring, excitement was suddenly at almost record highs for the UNC football program. The 2010-2011 would finally be the year when the Tar Heels established a football program that could at least be mentioned in the same paragraph as their basketball program....that was until about mid-July.<br />
<br />
In the past month and a half, an investigation into the source of funding of one of Marvin Austin's summer trips has transformed into a full blown Inquisition into the entire football program. Shockingly (<i>sarcasm</i>) we've found out that varsity athletes at major programs sometimes don't take their school's honor code seriously, and even have tutors write papers for them. Regardless of how commonplace this actually is (and I'd venture to say it's pretty DAMN commonplace), UNC got caught and now 12 key players have been suspended for the opening game versus LSU tomorrow, including Marvin Austin who was indefinitely suspended. Given that the list of players suspended on the defensive end of the ball could be confused for Mel Kiper's Big Board, its relatively safe to say that expectations have dropped even lower than Glenn Beck's credibility. Ever since this fiasco began I have been going through the stages of grief for the North Carolina Football Program.<br />
<br />
<b>1) Denial-</b> <i>"I bet this is all just backlash of the Reggie Bush fiasco. Marvin Austin probably didn't know he was breaking rules, but at worst he'll be suspended for a couple games and the team will be fine. Right now this whole thing is being overblown"</i><br />
<br />
In retrospect I was in more denial than Sammie Sweetheart was over her relationship with Ronnie through first five episodes of Jersey Shore. And in this metaphor the press conference announcing the honor code infraction investigation was Snookie and JWoww's anonymous letter. Wait, do I watch too much Jersey Shore? Maybe I should just stop talking.....<br />
<br />
<b>2) Anger-</b> <i>"Why the hell did Marvin Austin tweet about his trip in the first place? This is why college athletes shouldn't have twitter! And who the hell brought up the tutor who wrote papers for players during the NCAA investigation? This is so unfair. No one would have known anything if our players weren't such idiots!"</i><br />
<br />
I still feel this way to some extent, and I am convinced this happens at almost all major programs. However, I'm proud of UNC for valuing the concept of the student athlete. I can think of some college basketball coaches who don't have the same values (Hint: his name rhymes with "Dawn Calimari")<br />
<br />
<b>3) Bargaining-</b> <i>"How can anyone know who got help from this tutor. Look, I know Austin is going to be suspended for a significant portion of the season, but just let the rest of the team come out unscathed. I'll accept a loss to LSU if the suspensions (outside of Austin and maybe Little) are only for a game." </i><br />
<br />
This is ignoring the major bargain I'll always be willing to make. If it comes down to our entire football program versus our basketball team being tarnished in the least, I'll grab a lawn chair and watch the UNC football team go down in smoke any day of the week.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/09/01/13/536-NCarolina_NCAA_Football.sff.embedded.prod_affiliate.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2010/09/01/13/536-NCarolina_NCAA_Football.sff.embedded.prod_affiliate.56.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This face doesn't exactly inspire hope</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>4) Depression-</b> "<i>This team is screwed. We're going to go 4-8 because our offense still sucks and our defense is suspended. Hell, forget this year's team, the entire program is screwed. All our stars on defense are seniors and we're going to lose all our recruits after this. Is it really still two months until basketball starts?"</i><br />
<br />
Some of these things are still distinctly possible. And if the investigation turns out to show that Butch Davis was involved he's out the door. The man looked like he had just watched a family member die at last week's press conference. Still I think that in all likelihood the program will not go down in flames, even if this season does.<br />
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<b>5) Acceptance-</b> <i>"Unless our team overachieves versus LSU, we're going to lose tomorrow night. UNC may not make a bowl and almost certainly won't win the ACC, unless the suspensions are only for one game. Still Bryn Renner has shown promise and our defense still has talented albeit inexperienced players. This is probably a 6-6 team that will surprise some people, but our shot at a contending football program may have gone down the tube."</i><br />
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In other words:<br />
<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v4jGSvxCRp4?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v4jGSvxCRp4?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-32122868790743479912010-08-07T10:08:00.003-04:002010-08-07T13:57:15.473-04:00The Thrill is GoneMost years by the time August rolls around I have only one thing on my mind when it comes to sports: The NFL. While last season was a disappointing one for the teams I cheer for, at the end of last year's Super Bowl, I was pumped for the 2010-2011 NFL Season.<br />
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Fast forward five months and nearly all of the excitement has dissipated. I've tried on several occasions to write NFL-related posts and couldn't come up with jack. I'm sure part of the reason for my dip in interest has to do with the vast decrease in free time that accompanies the start of medical school. I no longer have time to research stats for fantasy football, read training camp previews from 5 different websites, or play the entire upcoming season on Madden between the start of training camp and opening night.<br />
<br />
Yet while I won't be able to do those things, their absence is not at the root of my lack of enthusiasm for the upcoming NFL season. I have tried to figure out exactly what happened in that five month span to cause such a drastic dip in interest and here is what I have come up with.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>1) For the first time ever, I'm finding it hard to cheer for my team</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nflpassers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ben-roethlisberger-drunk-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.nflpassers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ben-roethlisberger-drunk-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">God I hate him</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Look, the Steelers, who seemed legitimate candidates to repeat as Super Bowl champs last August, had a disappointing year in 2009-2010. There is no denying that. However, it was not what happened between week 1 and week 17 that made my blood a little less black and gold. Instead it was just one guy: Ben Roethlisberger. I had always suspected that Big Ben looked at himself as somewhat of an invincible superhero. From refusing to take a sack in the pocket to his infamous motorcycle crash when he wasn't wearing a helmet, Roethlisberger always seemed to be a bit of an idiot. But I was fine with that. People care if their doctors, lawyers, and accountants are intelligent, not so much NFL quarterbacks.<br />
<br />
Consequently, I was fine having a guy whose IQ rivaled Snookie's as my favorite team's quarterback. That all changed however when the news came out that he took advantage of a 20 year old girl in a bathroom stall. A few weeks later, a feature in Sports Illustrated discussed his continued riding of motorcycles without a helmet and a general pattern of douchebaggery throughout the city of Pittsburgh .<br />
<br />
Around the same time, the Steelers cut loose of Santonio Holmes who had a breakout season in 2009-2010, but also had a series of legal issues since he joined the team. Despite several rumors of attempted trades, Ben Rapelisberger still remains the QB of the Steelers going into the season. I understand that it's hard for a front office to cut loose of a QB who has brought the organization two Super Bowls, but as a fan I just can't bring myself to cheer for a guy like that.<br />
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Ideally, the Steelers would have traded Roethlisberger for a second round pick (or even cut him if it came down to it) and drafted Jimmy Clausen with their second round pick. This coming season I would probably be cheering for a talented team with Byron Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, or Clausen at quarterback. Yeah that team would probably miss the playoffs, but at the end of the day I would have fun cheering the team on to an 8-8 finish, knowing my team's quarterback hadn't violated a girl three years younger than me. Anyways, I've seen the Steelers win two Super Bowls, I could deal with a down year. Instead I'm stuck with Rapelisberger.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b> 2) On the flip side, I'm don't have a team to hate</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2005/02/06/1107748913_0327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2005/02/06/1107748913_0327.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe the fact this picture makes me want to vomit is a good thing </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>If you took a poll of who was the most hated team in the NFL anytime between 2003 and 2008, the New England Patriots would have won in a landslide. Two years after David Tyree took down the most dominant and perhaps most hated team in NFL history with a miracle catch, the Patriots dynasty has been officially put to rest. The fact is that the Pats have not won a Super Bowl since 2004 and that in that time no team has been able to quite take their place. The Colts blew their chance this February, the Steelers have followed up both their Super Bowl seasons by missing the playoffs, the Giants seem to have been a flash in the pan, and the Saints just aren't that hateable.<br />
<br />
Without an antagonist, the exploits of a protagonist become less significant, and that is the case with the upcoming NFL season. Having a team to cheer against can be just as important as having on to cheer for. That said I do think there are four possible teams that could take the role if the cards fall right the Patriots, the Jets, and the Cowboys. If the Patriots get off to a hot start and win 7 or 8 straight games, they could easily regain their title as public enemy #1. The Cowboys are always a threat to be the NFL's antagonist just based on principle. The Jets have amassed a lot of talent this offseason and clearly have an air of cockiness to their game, and a coach who doesn't do much to filter his thoughts.<br />
<br />
The wild card is if Rapelisberger's suspension gets reduced, the Pittsburgh starts winning, and the Steelers instantly become the most hated team in the NFL (see this season really is lose-lose for a Steelers fan). <br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>3) The NFL offseason storylines have become trite </b><br />
It seems like at the moment 90% of offseason storylines fall into one of three categories: <i>1) Player X got in trouble with the law 2) Player X is holding out for more money 3) Brett Favre may or may not retire.</i> With regards to the first, honestly I just don't care. Put the person in jail, suspend him a few games, or do nothing (depending on the offense). Just don't spend 25 minutes talking about it on Sportscenter. With regards to the second, the NFL instantly needs to go to slotted salaries for the draft like the NBA. Rookies haven't proven anything and thus don't deserve $50 million over four years. Just like every job, you need to produce results to demand a higher salary. As to the third point will someone just man up and take a shot at Favre's knees during the preseason and end all this nonsense.<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>4) The aren't as many exciting personalities in the league anymore </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/golden/upload/2009/07/chad_t250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/golden/upload/2009/07/chad_t250.jpg" /></a></div>Back in 2005, you had T.O. when he was still scoring touchdowns and doing driveway sit-ups and you had Steve Smith and the artist formerly known as Chad Johnson seeing who could come up with the most innovative end zone celebrations. Fast forward to 2010 and all of the great personalities in the league have either washed up (T.O.), toned it down (Steve Smith), or become parodies of themselves (Chad Ochocinco). Yes the Bengals might as well put Pauly D in the slot this season to cement their reality show at WR, but it all feels a bit contrived. Outside of Cincinnati the only exciting personality in the league is Rex Ryan. I'm not sure if this trend is due to a change in attitude among younger NFL players, or if Roger Goodell has actually managed to turn the NFL into the "No Fun League". Either way, despite what Goodell would like to think the NFL is an entertainment industry whose primary audience is males between the ages of 13 and 40, not a Fortune 500 company.<br />
<br />
All of this said, perhaps when the actual season rolls around my excitement for the NFL will be back at full force. Maybe some team will get desperate at the beginning of the season and offer up a first round pick for Rapelisberger. Maybe the Patriots or the Jets will unify NFL fanbases by taking up the mantle of NFL Public Enemy #1. Maybe the Ochocinco & TO combination will have a trickle down effect and make the league more fun again. Maybe. All I do know is that when it comes to the NFL offseason the thrill is gone.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-21825190623938243442010-07-25T14:00:00.014-04:002010-07-25T16:33:32.303-04:0023 Reasons LeBron Will Never Be MJA lot of talking heads have said that with his decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, LeBron effectively destroyed his chance to ever reach Michael Jordan's level. However if LeBron manages to average a triple double and the Heat win 70+ games, the comparisons will inevitably pop right back up. While professional journalists and columnists much more talented than myself will no doubt analyze in depth whether LeBron has reached His Airness in the future, here are 23 quick reasons why LeBron won't ever be like mike. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">1)</span> MJ: 6 Rings, 6 Finals MVPs</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> LBJ: 0 Rings, 1 Finals appearance</span><br />
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2) Be Like Mike (No Way LeBron ever comes Close to Pulling this off)<br />
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<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0AGiq9j_Ak"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0AGiq9j_Ak" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"> </object><br />
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3)<span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100722/mailbag2" style="color: red;">Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat</a><br />
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4) <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16Lc-AtZX-1N7Ug_Dl_YGWJk2Po1npV0_-r5yr4kqGIcAbrcH5IL8O5Lidlr4z-AiO__fjDqSf8kl2v3pRo3cBVuJewsYsN0y-6ZKWbPw-fIqBPTz3j6PKHfGX8VJ41h3OxrOZEqF-IOa/s1600/mj.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16Lc-AtZX-1N7Ug_Dl_YGWJk2Po1npV0_-r5yr4kqGIcAbrcH5IL8O5Lidlr4z-AiO__fjDqSf8kl2v3pRo3cBVuJewsYsN0y-6ZKWbPw-fIqBPTz3j6PKHfGX8VJ41h3OxrOZEqF-IOa/s400/mj.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Matter How Many Titles LeBron wins in Miami, He'll never win one of these</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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5) Speaking of UNC, Video Evidence of Jordan's Superiority #1: NCAA Finals vs Georgetown <br />
<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tCc0ZedVbjQ"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tCc0ZedVbjQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"> </object><br />
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6) MJ: 10 Scoring Titles (<i>NBA Record</i>), 7 Consecutive Scoring Titles (<i>NBA Record</i>)<br />
LBJ: 1 Scoring title <br />
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7) Video Evidence of Jordan's Superiority #2: The Shrug<br />
<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gkUBN5Ydjao"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gkUBN5Ydjao" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object><br />
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8) Jordan's most memorable media announcement was a two word press release: "I'm Back"<br />
LeBron's most memorable media announcement was an overblown one-hour Sportscenter special.<br />
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9) Jordan wanted to beat the best players of his era, LeBron wants to play alongside them <br />
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10) 1992 "Dream Team" > 2008 "Redeem Team"<br />
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11) This is how MJ puts a dagger in the heart of Cleveland<br />
<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ReOt7ypkj5k"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ReOt7ypkj5k" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object><br />
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12) And this is how LeBron puts a dagger in the heart of Cleveland<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RTeCc8jy7FI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RTeCc8jy7FI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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13) SPACE JAM<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.defensetech.org/images/Space%20Jam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="381" src="http://www.defensetech.org/images/Space%20Jam.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Greatest Movies Ever Made</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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14) "There's Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us."<br />
-Magic Johnson (5 time NBA Champion)<br />
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15) Video Evidence of Jordan's Superiority #3: The Cradle<br />
<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0Paj9w51KC4"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0Paj9w51KC4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object><br />
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16) <a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1706989_1524018,00.html" style="color: red;">The Air Jordans</a><br />
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17) MJ won the Slam Dunk Contest twice,<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqPRdzrjWpU&feature=related"> beating out Dominique Williams</a> who also was an amazing dunker. LeBron has never competed in the Slam Dunk Contest.<br />
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18) "90 percent of what I’ve learned and what I’ve figured out comes from [Michael Jordan]"<br />
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-Kobe Bryant (5 time NBA champion) <br />
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19) Jordan learned the game under Dean Smith, one of the top college coaches of all time and one of the highest character people in the history of college basketball. LeBron skipped college.<br />
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20) Video Evidence of Jordan's Superiority #4: "The Flu Game"<br />
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<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OLQl7UJOYUs"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OLQl7UJOYUs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object><br />
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21) These Three Commercials:<br />
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<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/liKnJ-ejztw"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/liKnJ-ejztw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object><br />
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22) Video Evidence of Jordan's Superiority #5: Last Shot as a Chicago Bull<br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vdPQ3QxDZ1s&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vdPQ3QxDZ1s&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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23)"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."<br />
-Michael Jordan <br />
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"I'm going to take my talents to South Beach"<br />
-LeBron JamesVFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-7828703428810386502010-06-24T15:09:00.000-04:002010-06-24T15:09:58.969-04:00Aftermath of the Craziest Tennis Match Ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5pqe-AOSzu84nbz88yFE-xKjVSaxZ5Ih3oPvxt6VAqwxQhdgQm2DNAOQqMFLaxYudID3i6ZizLI63Q5Ah5jD3aSUw8ocOojMSsEmi9U_eWxNr-Ay75hAzFMJyp6eBYBIXNnbeHNb2QZ/s1600/Isner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5pqe-AOSzu84nbz88yFE-xKjVSaxZ5Ih3oPvxt6VAqwxQhdgQm2DNAOQqMFLaxYudID3i6ZizLI63Q5Ah5jD3aSUw8ocOojMSsEmi9U_eWxNr-Ay75hAzFMJyp6eBYBIXNnbeHNb2QZ/s400/Isner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In tennis from time to time we come across a 5-set marathon match. These matches only occur in the Grand Slam events (excluding the US Open which plays a tiebreaker for the 5th Set). Federer-Roddick was a marathon match last year. It lasted 4 hours and 16 minutes and was decided at 16-14 in the third. That was a marathon match. What just happened over the past three days is something different entirely.<br />
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Here are some of the Records set by Isner-Mahut:<br />
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<i>Longest Match:</i> <b style="color: red;">11 hours, 5 minutes</b> (Previous Record: 6 hours, 33 minutes)<br />
<i>Most Games in a Match:</i> <b style="color: red;">183</b> (Previous Record: 112)<br />
<i>Most Aces By a Player In a Match:</i> <b style="color: red;">112</b>-Isner, Mahut-103 (Previous Record: 78)<br />
<i>Longest Set</i>: <b style="color: red;">138</b><span style="color: red;"> </span><b style="color: red;">Games</b><span style="color: red;"> </span>(Previous Record: 45)<br />
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And that is by no means all of them (Most serve games held, most points won, most winners, it just keeps going). Take a good look at the above numbers. It almost impossible that those numbers are ever going to be broken. The odds of Wilt's record of 100 points in a game is more likely to fall than those numbers, because while it is possible yet highly unlikely LeBron or someone else drops 100 on a team playing no defense (Golden State Warriors I'm looking at you), another 70-68 5th set is never going to happen again. In fact it never should have happened in the first place.<br />
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So why did it? Well part of the reason it did (and why it will never again happen) is that Isner-Mahut was the perfect matchup. Isner owns the best serve in tennis right now, but due to his size, he is not much of a threat returning serve. Mahut is a very good server and had strong groundstrokes, enough to hold serve fairly easily against Isner (Mahut won more points in the match than Isner) but is not a strong enough returner to break Isner's serve. Throw in the fact that Isner served amazing in the final set and that the grass courts favor big serves and make breaks more rare and you can see how there at least was a basis for the stalemate that occured for 137 games. Still, the fact that it lasted as long as it did is a testament not only to how well the two were serving but moreso the focus and willpower that allowed them to engage in the world longest staring contest, with neither blinking for over 8 hours.<br />
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In the end Mahut opened up a window in the 138th game with an ill-advised drop shot, followed by two great shots by Isner to bring an end to the uber-marathon match. The fact that Isner was part of this (and to a lesser degree the fact that he emerged victorious) was particularly cool to me since our paths crossed almost 8 years ago. Our high schools met in the State semifinals even though neither of us were playing (Isner was ineligible due to being sponsored and I was not in the starting lineup). Isner was sitting only a couple feet away as we both watched the matches going on. I was aware of who he was (at that point he was a top-ranked player in the south and had a scholarship to play tennis for Georgia) but did not expect that he would one day be playing in the craziest match in tennis history.<br />
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You'll notice I said "craziest match" and not "best match." To be honest, for much of the final set, the match was quite boring. That's not to say it was not well played, simply that the points were ending quickly and amazing rallies were few and far between. It isn't close to Roddick-Federer last year, Nadal-Federer the year before, or Borg-McEnroe back in the 70's. For one thing those matches were in the finals and pitted some of the best players to play the game. This was a first round match that pitted two players who will probably never be ranked in the top 5, maybe not even the top 10. For another, those matches featured brilliant shot making and a sense that serve could be broken if the server were to play only a couple of loose points. This match was a classic, but more in the historical, record-setting sense than in the "great match" sense. However that should not take anything away from Isner and Mahut. In time we'll get another Nadal-Federer 2008 or Roddick-Federer 2009. We'll never get another Isner-Mahut 2010.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-19446304557825216932010-05-24T02:49:00.006-04:002013-04-01T19:32:45.468-04:00"Getting" LOST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well the finale of perhaps the most polarizing and unique show of the past decade is finally over and judging from Facebook, Twitter, and my brother's text that simply read "That was awful," opinions on the finale are divided. I for one loved the finale and think it did a beautiful job of tying together the narrative of the show. Given the discussion, speculation, and even argument surrounding the finale, I figure its time for my second ever non-sports related blog post.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">WARNING: <span style="color: red;">SPOILERS AHEAD</span></span><span style="color: red;">.</span><br />
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Okay you've been warned.<br />
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So before I begin dissecting the finale and the show in general. I want to make a couple points about LOST that are pretty much not up for debate in my opinion.<br />
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1) It has some of the best music in television. Michael Giacchino did an amazing job with the soundtrack. He just won an academy award for Up! and also conducted the music for Star Trek. He was pretty unknown at the start of LOST and his great work has led him to most likely be a long time fixture in the movie soundtrack business.<br />
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2) The casting and acting were PHENOMENAL for a cable television show. Every major role was cast perfectly. Casting isn't easy. The acting was equally amazing with Ben, Locke, Richard, and Sawyer particularly standing out. <br />
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I could continue waxing poetic about particular episodes or great performances, but I want to keep this as brief as possible. So now to the finale.<br />
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Opinions are understandably mixed about the finale. Before I explain why I loved it or respond to any criticism of the show, let me first attempt to clear up any confusion about the plot/ending.<br />
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First of all the island was NOT purgatory and the characters did NOT die in the crash of Oceanic 815. The events happening in the first 5 seasons AND the events on the island during the sixth season WERE really happening. The "sideways" timeline was in fact not an alternate reality at all but instead a "waiting area" before the characters entered the afterlife where they had to remember their lives on the island and realize the significance of their interactions before moving on together (Matthew Fox <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCXlLNWRULo">pretty much confirmed this on Jimmy Kimme</a>l after the finale). As Christian said, the characters died at different times. We saw Jack dying in the final minutes. Boone and Shannon died in earlier seasons. It can be assumed that Kate, Sawyer, and others died after leaving the island and living their lives. Ben and Hurley lived out their lives as protectors/leaders of the island and died later.<br />
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If this seems somewhat vague that is because it is. No one has ever accused LOST of being clear cut. LOST is more like a book than a TV show in some senses in that you have to use your imagination and think, as opposed to shows like 24 (and I also very much enjoy 24) where you can just sit back and watch.<br />
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A few more points to clear up before I get into the debate. The plane Jack saw over him was most likely Sawyer, Kate, and co. escaping (though as Kimmel points out it could be the plane from the "sideways" and that is when Jack moves from the real world to the "waiting" area). The images of the wreckage during the credits don't suggest they all died in the crash but instead represents (remember the concept of "symbolism" from high school English) what tied all of these characters together.<br />
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With those few things hopefully cleared up, lets jump into the finale itself. The reason I loved it so much is because I feel it did a wonderful job wrapping up the narrative of the characters. The point of LOST is not the island and its mysteries, but instead the characters who landed on the island and their stories. More specifically it focuses on a group of individuals who all were flawed and all seeking redemption. While the question of why they were on the island was certainly a point of interest to fans (including myself) throughout the show, the true significance of the characters were their intertwined paths to redemption, that, without each other, would not have been possible. So in that regard I felt the finale was hugely successful in emphasizing this point.<br />
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The moving on of the characters to the afterlife was also done in a way that did not come across preachy or seem to put emphasis on a particular faith. LOST is a show in which faith is a major theme and one that draws from many religions, however I do not believe it was the intent of the producers to preach any particular religion.<br />
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The major criticism of the finale seems to be coming from those who feel disappointed with the lack of answers to questions about the island and mythology of LOST. While I understand this point of view, I think the lack of answers is for three main reasons:<br />
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<b>1)</b> <i>The writers were making it up as the went along up until the end of the third season</i> and have said as much (listen to <a href="http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=5189433&autoplay=1&callsign=ESPNRADIO">Bill Simmons podcast</a> with the producers from a couple weeks ago). They had vague ideas of where they wanted to go, but until they were given an end date they could not sit down and plan out an ending. That actually leads into point two:<br />
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<b>2)</b> <i>Raising questions that do not directly impact the main narrative is a good way to keep people interested without sacrificing the narrative of the characters</i><br />
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<b>3)</b> <i>The writers wanted to leave some things open to speculation</i>. Does it really impact the narrative if the island was built by ancient Egyptians? No. I think they want the nature of the island (as well as what exactly the flash sideways was) to be open to speculation. As I said earlier LOST wants you to use your imagination and to speculate about certain mysteries even after the show ends. Consider what happens when you try to give too much explanation. You get something like season six of 24 in which the mysterious conspirators behind the plot in season 5 end up being Jack Bauer's family.<br />
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Consequently, I liked the decision to spend the finale focusing on bringing closure to the narrative of the characters instead of distracting from this with a bunch of answers to the mythology.<br />
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Lastly, none of this is to say I wouldn't have wanted more answers. Where they really messed up was not the finale (which as I said I loved) but the Jacob flashback episode. That was their real chance to delve into island mythology and explain things and instead they wasted a lot of time with two kids running through the jungle and some strange mother character. I thought the episode was one of the weakest of the series. It, not the finale, was the best time to answer island mythology and it completely disappointed. Either the writers did not have a good idea of what was going to appease the answer-hungry fans, or they thought it was best to leave the answers to some questions open to interpretation.<br />
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The finale, much like the show throughout its run is destined to create division among those who watch the show. Some will express their disappointment. Some will get frustrated and antagonize those who liked it. Some will think it was the best finale ever. However, I hope most can agree that LOST was something unique and special. It became a pop culture phenomenon. It may be the last really successful sci-fi show on network television. It introduced us to interesting characters and was filled with twists and turns (the first flash-forward in the season 3 finale springs to mind). And, love it or hate it, it was able to go out on its own terms. <br />
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Goodbye LOST. And Namaste.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-22577912612414380742010-05-04T20:05:00.002-04:002010-05-04T20:05:53.504-04:00Distractions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80PReGI86-yRjtGKwfoCVbTt-kQn4w4opMbe4O-qnmpJ3azSAmmUy3rTuUjZQC0QyDxxAd_6XGpA5rzDtlVWBQyuAYhe0c8LJBL6cWQw4L6vGvOYomV5BpVNI_M2jLmfXvj-uieH4PZla/s1600/All+YOUR+BASE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80PReGI86-yRjtGKwfoCVbTt-kQn4w4opMbe4O-qnmpJ3azSAmmUy3rTuUjZQC0QyDxxAd_6XGpA5rzDtlVWBQyuAYhe0c8LJBL6cWQw4L6vGvOYomV5BpVNI_M2jLmfXvj-uieH4PZla/s400/All+YOUR+BASE.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>While I don't have time to post I took 5 minutes to come up with this picture to commemorate the four years in which Cameron Indoor Stadium Belonged to Tyler Hansbrough. ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-30828867058198939722010-04-28T12:25:00.012-04:002011-11-09T20:46:44.023-05:00Good times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8C4QjIcM2Z5p6uoDQawRQCzH9Q6LzXWgUm_07WS3oCa9arbhN2ukcr-WPaoGisIRCvk55FUYQTBgxiMijoWB8jnJDb182Bf1bhPvr8HxZtioIsbJTUjzd1LD0mUBddrLTBr9SOq9Tw0O/s1600/psychoT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8C4QjIcM2Z5p6uoDQawRQCzH9Q6LzXWgUm_07WS3oCa9arbhN2ukcr-WPaoGisIRCvk55FUYQTBgxiMijoWB8jnJDb182Bf1bhPvr8HxZtioIsbJTUjzd1LD0mUBddrLTBr9SOq9Tw0O/s400/psychoT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Today was my final day of classes at UNC. That thought in and of itself is scary (also I am dangerously close to possibly having to rename this blog). Anyways I was looking at Twitter and saw that former Tar Heel Bobby Frasor had tweeted:<br />
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<span class="thumb vcard author"></span><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><b><a class="tweet-url screen-name" href="http://twitter.com/BFrasor">BFrasor</a></b>: <span class="actions"></span><span class="entry-content">The past 4 years this day has been like Christmas to me.Last Day of Classes(LDOC). To everyone at UNC: I envy you. Now go jump off a balcony</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">Obviously this struck a chord as I am a graduating senior and have partaken in my fair share of celebrating during the last day of classes</span>, one of which actually overlapped in a weird LOST kind of way with the incident that Frasor is referring to. It happens to be one of the cooler athlete stories I have from my time here at Chapel Hill and one I've told many people, but I figure now is a good time to share it to a larger audience.</span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content">On the last day of classes during my sophomore year, I along with several other friends attended Slugfest, a large party/concert hosted by one of the fraternities here at Carolina. I myself never pledged a fraternity (in fact that was probably the last day of my college career I spent a significant amount of time at fraternity houses) but one of my close friends was dating a guy in the frat and she had convinced a group of us to all attend Slugfest (which was actually a lot of fun). After arriving in the early afternoon and visiting everyone for a bit and downing a couple (okay, perhaps more than a couple) cold ones, I decided to venture over to another fraternity that three of my freshman year suitemates had pledged. Their fraternity front lawn was packed with people with the exception of an area in the middle of the lawn where they had set up an above ground pool.</span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content">While hanging out on the lawn and catching up with my old suitemates, the news came down that Tyler Hansbrough had decided to stay for his senior season. Obviously everyone celebrated when we heard this, as the Final Four beatdown at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks was still fresh in the minds of most students. After mingling and catching up with everyone I knew downstairs I went inside the frat house to say hey to one of my former suitemates (Mike) who was hanging out in his room. Mike's room opened up to the balcony on the front of the house, so occasionally people would come through the room to jump off the balcony into the pool (I refrained... you're welcome, mom). After I had been hanging out up in Mike's room for about 15 minutes reminiscing about freshman year, Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor suddenly walked straight through the room out onto the balcony.</span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content">Once I realized they were about to jump I immediately thought that it probably wasn't a good idea. After all Bobby was coming off an ACL tear and Tyler Hansbrough was the key to any possible run at a title the next season (earlier in the day Ty, Wayne, and Danny had all announced they would be testing the NBA draft waters). I thought for a second about trying to stop it but realized that any attempts to do so could quite possibly end with me being thrown off the balcony into the pool by Tyler Hansbrough. As such I made the decision to quiclky run downstairs to the front yard to watch the two jump (and hope like hell they didn't get hurt). In retrospect I kind of wish I had stayed on the balcony as photos Tyler and Bobby jumping made their way onto PTI the next day.</span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content">Both landed their jumps fine, and everyone at the party wildly cheered them on. I ran up and gave Tyler a high-five (my hand hurt like hell afterwards) then quickly snapped the photo shown above of him standing in the pool urging others to jump with the assistance of a bullhorn.</span></span><br />
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<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content">Shortly after, I left to rejoin my friends at slugfest and continued to celebrate the last day of classes. Two years later here I am again, having just finished my final course at college about to go celebrate my final last day of classes. I urge all Carolina students to go out and celebrate today. After all, you only get to go through college once. </span></span><br />
<span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"> </span></span>VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-41597874881017383552010-04-08T13:12:00.003-04:002010-04-08T13:30:21.843-04:00Going the Distance<a href="http://media.masslive.com/republican/photo/-4a4086f80a335556_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://media.masslive.com/republican/photo/-4a4086f80a335556_large.jpg" width="320" /></a>When Gordon Hayward's desperation shot bounced off the backboard and then off the front of the rim ensuring Duke its fourth national championship a small part of me died. More than anyone, I know sports don't always end up with the poetic ending, but for the past 39 minutes and 59 seconds of basketball Butler had come out and proven that they could fight their way to their storybook ending with stifling defense. I guess I had bought in to the Hoosiers comparison that had been constantly thrown around in the media over the past few week. So when the chance for the comparison to come to fruition came just short, I like many others was disappointed.<br />
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Once I started thinking though, I realized that the real sports movie comparison wasn't Hoosiers at all. It was an even better sports movie. One that won the Academy Award. One not about basketball. Yep, you guessed it, Rocky. While I enjoy every movie in the Rocky series (well except Rocky V, but that never happened), the first movie is undoubtably the best film. The thing that makes it so unique is that the hero loses the fight at the end. But that's not the point. Unlike 99.9999% of sports movies, the point of Rocky is not winning, its proving you belong when others don't think you will. Its about going the distance.<br />
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So now, a few days after a tantalizingly close missed buzzer beater crushed the hopes of pretty much all college basketball fans, I realize that even though Butler lost, the real storyline of the tournament was that they went the distance. Don't let the typical post championship articles about Duke fool you either. They were Apollo Creed. Duke had 6 McDonalds All-Americans. Butler had all of zero. Duke had the coach who many feel may be the best the sport has ever seen. Butler's coach just finished puberty. Yes Duke and Butler weren't separated by that much in the polls entering the season. Yes Butler was on the longest active win streak entering the game. But Butler seemed to eek out every one of their games and never looked dominant. Duke on the other hand picked Baylor apart late in their Elite Eight matchup and then delivered a haymaker to a West Virginia team who had just knocked off Kentucky. Duke wasn't the collossus that last year's UNC team was (lets just say if Duke was Creed, last year's UNC was Ivan Drago and we all know what happened there) but in the context of the national championship game, Duke was the overwhelming favorite. While the usual media hype accompanied it (I mean some tried to sell last year's UNC vs. MSU final as a great matchup) there was an overwhelming sentiment that Duke was poised for a blowout.<br />
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<a href="http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/rocky-creed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/rocky-creed.jpg" width="320" /></a>Much Balboa-Creed, Butler came out and surprised everyone including Duke by giving them their best shot. Duke was never really able to get into a rhythm and couldn't get the open threes that had carried them through the tournament. By the last few minutes Butler looked as if they could not only stand toe-to-toe with Duke but could actually pull the huge upset. In the end Duke never delivered the knockout punch, they survived and won in the end by a few centimeters with their opponent still standing, a team that had emerged victorious in every manner except on the scoreboard (NOTE: by no means am I implying Duke won unfairly. Personally I thought the refs were very fair and Duke did deserve the win).<br />
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So when you're busy reading all the stories on ESPN and Sports Illustrated about how you should appreciate Duke's hard work, or Brian Zoubek's transformation into an effective basketball player, or how Coach K needs to be praised for being able to win with a lineup of 4 upperclassmen McDonalds All Americans (okay so that last one is a bit sarcastic, but the other ones are true), just remember that sometimes the team that loses can be the best story. That is the case with Butler. They went the distance.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-11639233701336752402010-03-28T20:53:00.004-04:002010-05-05T22:34:45.654-04:00Why Do We Hate Duke Basketball?<a href="http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/nrcom_article_image_landscape/Images/UNC-Duke%20dookiev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/nrcom_article_image_landscape/Images/UNC-Duke%20dookiev.jpg" width="320" /></a>I turned on ESPN a few minutes after Duke's win over Baylor and the first thing I heard was Dick Vitale (who does little to hide his affection for Duke basketball) passionately demanding to know why people hate a group full of players who play hard, technically sound basketball and care about academics.<br />
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Well Dickie V, I (with a little help from the Sports Guy) have got your answer baby! <br />
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The more regular readers of this blog may have picked up that I am a big fan of ESPN's Bill Simmons (aka the Sports Guy). As someone who favors a style of writing that is more based on fan opinions and interpretations of sports rather than simply reporting the facts while also making frequent pop culture references, I have to give it up to Simmons as the master of this craft. It's no coincidence that he was able to make a 700+ page book (not named Harry Potter) in which he exhaustively shared his opinions and observations (albeit very well researched and strongly based opinions and observations) on the NBA a NYT bestseller.<br />
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Anyways, as I am wont to do, I was listening to Simmons' podcast, the BS Report a few weeks back, on which pop culture guru (and another very entertaining writer) Chuck Klosterman was the guest (to listen to it in full <a href="http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=4967758&autoplay=1&callsign=ESPNRADIO">click here</a>). After touching on the controversies surrounding Tiger Woods and John Mayer, the topic switched to Duke Basketball and why they are so unanimously hated (specifically whether this was related to race). As Duke is back in the Final Four, I figured I'd post select quotes from the podcast and give my own input. I would like to point out that neither are Carolina fans, though Simmons has expressed distaste for Duke in the past and throughout this year's tournament.<br />
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After establishing that Duke is unquestionably the most hated team in college basketball Klosterman opens up the discussion:<br />
<blockquote>"You could argue that this is a class based thing... but people don't think the same way about Stanford... Is it that people see Duke as racist... or is it that they seem to be playing basketball in a way that puts them in the past which of course makes them beloved by older people, but is the reason say, young people... don't like Duke so much is because it feels like they are a team of Steve Blakes?"</blockquote>The question of whether the fact that people hate Duke is related to their disproportionate amount of white stars is not a new one. Personally I don't think it's necessarily an issue of race as much as it an issue of class. As I've said before despite my UNC allegiances, Duke is one of the top universities in the country. Duke has embraced this reputation and has fashioned itself as the Ivy of the South and prides themselves on their selectiveness. To those who don't attend this can come across as arrogance or entitlement. <br />
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<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/images/300725/0_61_duke_campus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://www.foxnews.com/images/300725/0_61_duke_campus.jpg" width="200" /></a>Consequently, those who attend other institutions, especially those in the region cast the archetypal Duke student as elitist and perhaps intellectually condescending. As a result these schemas carry over to the realm of basketball and people look for examples in the play of Duke basketball players that fit into this archetype. Things like confidence and celebration which are displayed by many players are suddenly cast in the light of arrogance and elitism furthering the hatred. So in answer to the question of race, I would contend that it is not that caucasian Duke players engender some type of reverse racism but rather that these caucasian players are viewed as elitist, cocky, and entitled by outside fanbases. Furthermore, though Simmons and Klosterman failed to come up with such examples (and used Grant Hill as an example of how people don't seem to hate African-American Duke players as much), some past Duke players of other ethnic background also came to be despised by outside fans such as Dahntay Jones, Trajan Langdon, Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, and Gerald Henderson (well at least by Carolina fans).<br />
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The latter argument, that Duke's style of play seems archaic and its lack of modernity contributes to younger people's distaste for the team, does seem to have some merit. In this current era of NBA stars like LeBron showcasing astronomical levels of athleticisism and talent, Duke's very technically sound style of play stands in direct contrast. Duke tends to play tenacious defense and work the ball around to hit open threes. While this is a very effective style of play and, in my opinion, one to be respected, it does not have the flashiness that the breakneck pace of UNC (at least in the past several years) and the dribble drive offense of Kentucky have. While the ability to shoot the ball as exceptionally well as the Redicks and Scheyers of the world is to be admired, Duke's style of play relies more on cerebral players with a particular skill set, rather than the raw athletes that tend to dominate the SportsCenter top 10. In this regard, Duke's style of play could understandably lack appeal to the Dunk Contest generations. Furthermore, Duke unabashedly seems to attempt to tweak the rules in their favor, kicking their legs out while shooting threes to draw foul calls, setting uncalled moving screens, and flopping on defense.<br />
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Another extremely important part of what makes Duke dislikable that Simmons and Klosterman do not directly touch on is their prolonged success over the past several decades and the subsequent media attention that has come as a result. Firstly, no one hates a team that is only marginally successful, only those that achieve success. Just as the general football audience did not hate the Patriots until their dynasty in the first half of this past decade, Duke's success in the past two decades (3 national championships) along with their high profile rivalry with fellow powerhouse UNC (who at least to some plays the Jacob to Duke's Man in black, more on the rivalry <a href="http://viewfromthestudentsection.blogspot.com/2009/03/blood-of-best-rivalry-in-sports-runs.html">HERE</a>) has been a cause of their high profile and the consequent dislike from the rest of the basketball world.<br />
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Lastly, this is only a small point, but you can't discount the fact that the team is called the Blue Devils. When a team already has several factors aligning against it, the added satinic imagery of their mascot may subconsciously reinforce the role of Duke as the villain.<br />
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Now lest you begin to question my own allegiance to the Tar Heels and antagonistic feelings toward their rival 8 miles down the road, I do think there are certainly some things that Duke basketball does to further their role as the antagonist of the College Basketball world. As Simmons points out, much of this starts and ends with the coach:<br />
<blockquote>"You can't discount Coach K... He's more emotional than the typical coach... he almost seems like he's going to break down every time that they lose... He's almost like a high school teacher with his students, like it's very 1950's"</blockquote>This is not to say that Coach K is a bad person. Actually a <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=4961273">very well written piece</a> by Andy Katz that appeared recently on ESPN proves quite the opposite. However, regardless of how good a person he is off the court his on court demeanor, which Simmons highlights, certainly makes him easy to loathe on the basketball court for those outside of Durham. He curses at his own players and the refs, never too afraid to drop an F-bomb or four. It is pretty undeniable at this point that he does coach his players to flop (including while shooting 3-pointers, which can be infuriating). He pretty much gives off a "I'm a great coach, my system works so I can do what I want" vibe.<br />
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However, it is not just Coach K. Over the years the players have certainly helped Duke gain its antagonist status. Per Simmons:<br />
<blockquote>"You also can't discount the legacy of the types of guys that they've had: Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley [not to mention Wojo]. These were people that nobody liked at the time and that's now become " Oh yeah, Its Duke, they have these types of guys. Now it's Paulus, Scheyer... Redick" </blockquote>It's hard to argue with any of that. While some players like Singler, Battier, and Shelden Williams were solid players who did little to engender the ire of opposing fans other than wearing a Duke jersey, a select few have seemed to embrace the role of the royal blue villain. Since Laettner was before my time, and I only remember a bit of Wojo, Redick unquestionably is the largest example of this type of player. I'll let Simmons briefly take over again. <br />
<blockquote>"Redick was inherently unlikable... you watch him and there's just something about him... he's like someone you would have cast in a movie from the 1960's where the all white team is playing the all black team."</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.slamonline.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jon_scheyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.slamonline.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jon_scheyer.jpg" width="144" /></a></div><a href="http://frankthetank.files.wordpress.com/2006/06/redickshotbig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://frankthetank.files.wordpress.com/2006/06/redickshotbig.jpg" width="200" /></a>You can argue the degree to which Redick truly was this way, but it's hard to dispute that this was the way most people not living in Gothic dorms thought of him. Scheyer, however, is actually a really interesting case as he is less abrasive and plays intelligent and technically sound basketball. Honestly, the hatred for him is more a product of his predecessor's actions than his own. People see a sharpshooter wearing Royal blue and he is assigned the attributes which have become associated with the others who came before him. In some cases (Paulus comes to mind) the assumptions prove to be correct, in others (Scheyer, Nolan Smith) they are off base. Putting it another way, if you were to put Scheyer on a team like Cornell or Butler he would be a likable player. However if you were to put Redick, Paulus, or Laettner on one of those teams they still would be villains in the college basketball world. Devendorf of Syracuse last year was perfect proof of this, as it was his own attitude and nothing about the team he was on that made him so dislikable.<br />
<a href="http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/poster_dunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/poster_dunk.jpg" width="252" /></a><br />
So why do we hate Duke basketball? The answer is that it's a combination of the elite nature of the school (which it blatantly embraces), a legacy of several unlikable players who embraced their role as a villain, and prolonged success. In the end while there may be nothing innately evil or bad about the players or the program, the aforementioned factors are enough to make Duke the antagonist of the basketball world.<br />
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Duke hasn't won a national championship since 2001. Not many people stopped hating Duke during that time as they still have consistently made it to the NCAA tournament. However, the Duke hatred should be ratcheted up now that they are returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2004. A large portion of the people tuning in next weekend will be cheering for Duke to fall short once again. Will all that Duke hate be completely logical? Maybe not, but it sure is fun.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542002722558422997.post-45260759440120196202010-03-23T13:07:00.000-04:002010-03-23T13:07:14.302-04:00Every time I think I'm out...<a href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02AzanE5mTbrK/x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02AzanE5mTbrK/x350.jpg" width="184" /></a>...They pull me back in!*<br />
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Already this year I have written at least two posts that I thought would be my last post addressing UNC basketball. Let's go ahead and admit it right away: This season has been an unmitigated disaster for a team that was ranked #4 in the ESPN Coaches Poll. The reasons have been discussed and speculated on ad nauseam but it can basically be boiled down to three things: injuries, inexperience, and lack of developed talent. UNC failed to play with any consistency during ACC season and suffered several beatdowns at the hands of ACC opponents, the magnus opum of which was the final game of the season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Being the optimist that I am I still hoped they could put together an ACC tournament run and had almost convinced myself they could do so when they held a 10 point lead going into halftime against Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament. About an hour later UNC was one and done in the ACC tournament and I was finally ready to put UNC's season to rest.<br />
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When I found out UNC had gotten a debatably undeserved bid to the NIT tournament, I was not particularly excited until I found out they would be playing the first round game in Carmichael due to<strike> not wanting to play in a half-filled stadium</strike> renovations to the Dean Dome. I really wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of watching a team that was so disappointing, the allure of a game played in a throwback stadium seemed well worth the $5 price of a ticket (plus I had written <a href="http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/playing-men%E2%80%99s-games-carmichael-appealing-idea">this letter to the editor in the DTH</a> suggesting games be played in Carmichael at the beginning of the semester).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4lYe9WCCi8RTG1eDji7AfsGeGOiILFbNmnOe9yI7ZvIkkRMy4CJwpI5iuSTYsbjFlddkIjI4PV1JqDQrIg7DOYG94xn7DiNlvMCUmqYQe-dd3IB8nm5xkypUgJA-GoctEFSiqfxmI8e6/s1600-h/0316002050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4lYe9WCCi8RTG1eDji7AfsGeGOiILFbNmnOe9yI7ZvIkkRMy4CJwpI5iuSTYsbjFlddkIjI4PV1JqDQrIg7DOYG94xn7DiNlvMCUmqYQe-dd3IB8nm5xkypUgJA-GoctEFSiqfxmI8e6/s640/0316002050.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
When I arrived at Carmichael at 8:30 last Tuesday night I was not disappointed. I had only been in the stadium once during my freshman year before renovations, and had never actually watched a game there. The arena was jam packed by tipoff and due to the smaller size, every seat in the house was a good seat (trust me I had about the worst seats you could get). As much as I loved the atmosphere, I still was only cautiously optimistic about UNC, hoping that I wasn't putting in jeopardy the fact that the last home game I attended as a student was a win (Miami was the last before then). <br />
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Then the game got going and I was instantly swept up into Carolina Basketball in a way I had not been since before ACC play. The atmosphere was more electric than any game I had been to all season with the possible exceptions of Michigan State and Duke. William and Mary proved to be a significant challenge (after all they had beaten Maryland and Wake Forest on the road during the season), tossing up a redonkulous 43 three pointers and connecting on 16 of them. However, UNC looked more composed and hustled harder than I had seen in at least two months. Leaving Carmichael Auditorium that night I could not think of a better last home game to watch as a student at UNC.<br />
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I hoped UNC would be able to build on the momentum from their win on Saturday but I realized they were playing a Mississippi State team that had a legitimate NBA draft pick in Jarvis Varnado and a backcourt that could shoot very well from distance. Furthermore, the team had struggled on the road all season and didn't have the adrenaline boost of playing in Carmichael. Once MSU came out draining threes to take a double digit lead in the first several minutes, I decided to go outside and start grilling as felt like I had watched this show at least a dozen times this season. UNC was letting the opponent go on a big run and would not be able to recover due to a lack of scoring. Several minutes later I walked back in and the game was neck-and-neck, with UNC actually taking a lead into halftime. Once again I was cautiously optimistic but not the least bit comfortable with a halftime lead after watching a 10 point lead against GT disappear in a matter of minutes. The game stayed close all the way to the end and before I knew it UNC had the ball with 8 seconds left. Larry Drew II, who has come under as much criticism of any player on the team, aggressively drove to the basket and dropped in a left handed layup over the nation's leading shot blocker to ice the game. <br />
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Sunday morning, following a great slate of NCAA tournament games including UNI's earth shaking upset of Kansas, I am watching sportscenter and suddenly I see the highlights of the UNC-MSU game being played. It basically just summed up what I was thinking about UNC after their win: For the first time in a long time this season, UNC is fun to watch again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8RcYz6iLCCMczyVYpsgTMiTquCp8nj1lKoCrySy5QZfYuFHLY3m6FE7mOKoYgKYyEYtFlwLP1sGlZ5NSJk29Zm-PLAwJy2O024djoDRICXu4an6ghdPAALnReOruGty-5i_Ul9RELwSN/s1600-h/unc.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8RcYz6iLCCMczyVYpsgTMiTquCp8nj1lKoCrySy5QZfYuFHLY3m6FE7mOKoYgKYyEYtFlwLP1sGlZ5NSJk29Zm-PLAwJy2O024djoDRICXu4an6ghdPAALnReOruGty-5i_Ul9RELwSN/s320/unc.bmp" width="211" /></a>UNC plays its third NIT game tonight in Birmingham against UAB. The Tar Heels haven't won three games in a row since December. They will again be playing in hostile territory in front of a sold out crowd. UAB absolutely decimated NC State, forcing them into 35.8% shooting from the field and 13 turnovers. The Tar Heels, will have to keep their offensive woes that plagued them in the ACC season behind them if they want to win. However, UAB is not nearly the three point threat that William and Mary or Mississippi State were and also have a smallish frontcourt that UNC could take advantage of, especially if Zeller is in the lineup.<br />
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If UNC does pull off a win they will be headed to Madison Square Garden for the final four of the NIT. The final four is kind of a dubious honor, and on more than one occasion I have called the tournament the Not Invited Tournament. Even if UNC cuts down the nets in New York (do they cut down the nets for the NIT), it won't change that this was a disappointing season and it won't mean that they should have been in the NCAA tournament. What it will mean is that the season can end on a positive note, and hopefully restore some of the damaged confidence of the current freshmen and sophomores who will be looked at to lead this team next year in pursuit of a minor "return to glory." For me though it will mean that I got to legitimately enjoy the end of my final basketball season as a UNC student. And the possibility of that is why UNC has once again pulled me back in.<br />
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*Yes I realize the original quote from Godfather III was "Just when I thought I was out..." but I took the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D-tlsnk4fs&feature=related">George Costanza version</a> instead. Why? Because George Costanza rules, and the Godfather part III kind of sucked.VFSShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17499936050173541011noreply@blogger.com0